Blind Dates are Overrated aka That's My Date Btch!
by kirax29
Summary: Lucy and Scud make a bet. Some funny fluff. It's my story, but using borrowed parts! D.E.B.S., it's characters, etc. do not belong to me. There is some dialogue/scenes from the movie.
1. Chapter 1

_There are a few lyrics used sparingly throughout the story, and I wanted to give them credit here:_  
_Escape (The Pina Colada Song) by Rupert Holmes_  
_Bizarre Love Triangle by New Order_  
_She's the One by Bruce Springsteen_  
_The Tension and the Terror by Straylight Run_  
_The Sweater Song by Weezer_  
_Thief by Belly_

"Seriously, Scud? Is this really necessary? I feel like you get your jollies setting me up for the WORST possible blind dates ever. Where do you find these women? /neurotic-lesbian-criminal? I mean that drummer..."

Scud barely remembered to hide a smirk which, he was sure, would have gotten him a smack to the back of the head. "No Luce, although that _would_ be pretty convenient. As things are, it's not easy to find women to set you up with. You know, ones that wouldn't particularly mind too much if you were interrupted by government agencies opening fire on you."

Lucy stared at Scud for a few seconds, rolled her eyes at him and snickered. "It's not like I ever see you with any women, you know. Why's it so important for you to find me one?" "Lucy, I spend all my time trying to find you women. And let me tell you, _those_ ladies have no interest in me." He looked hurt for a moment and muttered, "But I do ok."

Lucy snorted a laugh and waved at him dismissively. "Did you ever think that I might be able to find my own dates?" Scud's eyes opened wider and twinkled with mischief. "What?" she asked. With a grin that could have made an idiot jealous, Scud looked over at Lucy and said, "How about a little wager? I'll find you 3 dates, you find yourself 3 dates and then we'll see who does a better job."

She turned her body to face Scud and set herself in a 'how dare you challenge me?' stance, arms crossed, weight on one hip, merrily shooting him her own mischievous look. "Alright, deal. But I'm not in this alone. Prepare yourself for blind dates as well."

Before she stormed out of the room, Lucy cast a quick glance at Scud, and the look on his face quickly changed from surprise to doubt to apprehensiveness as he nervously chuckled at her. "Uh, no way Luce...Lucy!" He sighed heavily into the empty room. "How did I get myself into this?"


	2. Chapter 2

Amy awoke to the sound of her cell phone ringing. She begrudgingly rolled over to glance at her alarm clock, and she cringed when she saw the time. 6:05 AM. Who the hell...? She didn't even finish the thought. Ugh. That ringtone. She reached for her phone, and made a mental note to get back at Janet for giving Bobby a personal ringtone , "You Are My Sunshine" nonetheless. She tapped the green answer key on the screen. "Bobby, how many times do I have to tell you..." Amy began, only to be cut off by a cheerfully awake Bobby Matthews. "Hey babe, wanna grab some breakfast? Like a breakfast date?"

Amy rolled her eyes and grumbled something unintelligible. "Uh, Amy? You there?" She drew in a deep breath and began again, slowly, for Bobby's benefit. "Bobby, how many times do I have to tell you that we broke up? No, I don't want a breakfast date, or a lunch date, dinner date, movie date, mini golf date, double date, or! go dancing, go for a walk, go somewhere to talk about it or any of the other million things you've called me to ask me about in the two weeks since we broke up!" Amy was a little surprised by the ferocity of her outburst. Well, ferocious for her anyway. She did feel a bit bad. "I'm sorry Bobby, but we just aren't meant to be."

"But, babe..."

"Bobby! That's it!" Amy wished for the satisfaction that came from violently ending a phone call by slamming it down to hang up. Instead she tapped the red 'End Call' on the screen, sighed, and tucked her hair behind her ear. Her wrist communicator started to sound off a shrilly sequence of beeps. "It can't be. It can't be. No one could be that dumb." But one look at her D.E.B.S. watch proved her wrong. She threw it inside her desk drawer and slammed that shut. She felt a little better at the resounding sound it made.

Amy yawned, stretched, and glanced once again at her alarm clock, now 6:12 AM. She longed to roll over and go back to sleep, but she decided she should probably just get up. She opened the door to the hallway, where she witnessed Dominique throw a pair of jeans and shoes down the stairs, and yell at someone "Get out, I don't do laundry!" Amy couldn't help but laugh as she headed towards the bathroom to jump in a quick shower and get ready for the day. She shook her head and thought to herself, "maybe I just need to take a cue from Dom and have a little fun for once."

* * *

Janet sat at her computer desk in her room, and logged onto the newest dating site she decided to try, . She had been on several horrible dates in the past two months of trying the online dating scene. The first two dates hadn't even complimented the new cardigans she bought for each of the occasions! She sighed heavily but her perky attitude managed to outweigh her frustration. Janet knew there was someone out there for everyone. Right?!

She began creating her profile. "OK" she said aloud to herself. "Likes? Shopping, cute animals, pink, sweaters, teddy bears..." She trailed off. "Oh my gosh I sound so lame!" She deleted everything but shopping (after all, what girl doesn't like to shop?) and started typing again, filling out the rest of her profile. She smiled to herself, and before sharing her profile she had a flash of genius. "I'm not gonna be CuteCardiGirl on this site!" She quickly typed in a new handle and thought "this should land me some better dates!"

Janet logged off, opened her bedroom door and was about to head down the hall when a man in just his underwear emerged from Dominique's room and did a walk of shame down the stairs. Dom appeared in her bedroom doorway, lit cigarette in hand and smirked at Janet. Janet gasped in a breath, rolled her eyes at Dom and said "Please don't smoke in the hallway!"

She stalked down the hallway to the bathroom, still annoyed at Dom, only to become positively aghast that the bathroom was occupied. "Who is in the bathroom? It's my time in the bathroom!" Bang. Bang. Bang. She heard a muffled "What?" from Amy. "Amy, it's my turn!" Amy stuck her head out into the hallway. "Sorry Janet but "You Are My Sunshine" woke me up today." Janet grimaced and looked down at the floor. "He really likes you Amy!" She slammed the bathroom door. "Yeah well, you're gonna have to wait until I'm done now!"

Damn! Honestly, why anyone would design this house with only one bathroom for 4 women is sooo dumb. "You guys! We really need to work on the bathroom schedule! Half the time one of Dominique's...uh...friends...is in there during my time! It's not fair!" No response from anyone. It's so hard to stay cheerful when no one cares about the little things!

Janet sighed loudly and went back to her room to pick out a sweater to go along with her uniform. And to look for her gun. "Oh, where did I leave it?"


	3. Chapter 3

Scud wondered exactly where Lucy was planning on finding him women to date. Then again he really needed to start focusing on where he was going to find Lucy a few dates. He moved the mouse to clear the "World Domination is Fun" screensaver. Logging in to his secure email Scud saw that he had two new messages. One was a message about some miracle pill to cure balding and weak bladders. Scud shook his head. Even evil henchmen deal with junk mail. "Delete."

The second message looked a bit more promising. An email from Zeda. Double clicking the email and reading quickly about the latest government website she'd hacked (a town hall in some teeny tiny town he'd never heard of...boring!) it finally began to get interesting. Looks like a former Russian assassin is relocating to L.A. And she's single. And she's blond and attractive. And she's a lesbian. Scud patted himself on the back (literally) and quickly typed a reply to Zeda "Details woman! I need 'em now!" Well, looks like one blind date down, two more to set up!

He briefly wondered if he should set up an online profile for Lucy at some crappy dating site...was a lesbian site? The double entendre was there, but so wrong. He laughed a little and decided he would consider it later.

Feeling incredibly pleased with himself and in a very good mood, he ran down a short flight of stairs to round up some fellow henchman for an impromptu game of bingo. He was feeling lucky, and the god of bingo is never one to pass up an opportunity to win some easy cash. Like taking candy from some (large and muscular) babies.

* * *

Lucy pulled up to the Junkpit in the Skymobile and turned the key to shut off the engine. "This is going to be a piece of cake. I'm sure there are plenty of women here who would be perfect for Scud. Time to conduct some interviews!" Lucy smiled to herself at how easy her end of this deal was going to be. As far as men go, Scud was a great guy. Not bad looking. Smart, funny, loyal. For the most part. A bit of a softy. And a bit of a geek. Piece of cake.

She opened the door and got out of the car, not bothering to lock it. No one was that stupid. Especially not at the Junkpit. She strode towards the doors, music growing louder as she neared them. Lucy threw them both open, and made her entrance. She loved how people moved out of the way as she walked through the middle of the dancefloor. She scanned it, looking for potential candidates. She saw a girl with blue hair apparently lost in the music, and tried to get her attention. "Hey! Hey! Blue hair!" The girl finally looked up at her, eyes widening with alarm. "You-You're. You're Lucy Diamond."

She stood stock still not moving a muscle. Lucy gave her her most charming smile and said, "come over here with me. I'd like to talk to you about an opportunity you shouldn't pass up!"

Lucy began walking away from the dance floor and had almost reached her favorite booth when she realized no one was following her there. She turned around and scanned the dancefloor once more. She saw Blue Hair, still standing in the same spot. Lucy rolled her eyes and stalked back towards her, pulling her by the sleeve. "Sit. Please." Blue Hair sat obediently. Lucy realized that maybe this wasn't going to be as easy as she thought. At least not with women who knew who she was. "Soooo...tell me a little about you."

Blue Hair looked like a deer caught in headlights. "Wha-whaddya mean?" She looked around as if she could find someone to help her. "I-I was just dancin..." Once again, Lucy rolled her eyes. "I gathered. So listen. You know who Scud is?" Blue Hair nodded. "I want you to go out on a date with him." Her eyes opened impossibly wide. "But...I thought...we thought...isn't he gay?"

Lucy regarded Blue Hair with a serious look, then burst out peals of laughter. "Ha! No. Hahaha he's not!"

"Can I go now?" She slunk out of the booth and did her best to disappear back onto the dance floor. Lucy sighed and looked around The Junkpit again. "This place is full of one night stands," she thought. "And while _I_ _know_ Scud could at least use one or two of those, it's soooo not his thing." She rested her chin on her hand. She realized she hadn't thought of anything besides finding his dates at The Junkpit. And apparently everyone at the Junkpit thinks Scud is gay. Back to the drawing board. She signaled the waitress and asked her to bring her a Dos Equis. It was time to do some thinking. It had been two years she had found herself a date, let alone someone else. Where is it that people do this anymore? She briefly thought about hiring Scud an escort. Lucy rolled her eyes and hoped Scud was having as much trouble.

Lucy headed out of the Junkpit and back towards her car. She thought she had a genius idea. Everyone here knew her and Scud. Maybe she would try a bar where no one knew either of them. She knew she could potentially be recognized anywhere, but what the hell. At least she could get another beer without Blue Hair scurrying around like a scared mouse. She put the Skymobile in gear, and took off out of the gravel lot.


	4. Chapter 4

Amy looked around her room. "Another Saturday wasted." She glanced up and saw Dominique walk past her door, obviously off to...wherever Dominique goes on the weekends in 7 1/2" killer heels. Not even five minutes later, and to Amy's complete surprise, Janet popped her head in the door and said, "See ya later Amy! I've got a date! Yay!" She clapped giddily, ponytail swinging about her head. She quickly sobered and looked pointedly at Amy. "You should really give Bobby a call." She retreated with unexpected speed as Amy threw a pillow that landed with a thud against the door where Janet previously stood.

Amy rolled her eyes. Who needs him? I'm just gonna go out. Maybe Max will come out for a drink with me.

She walked downstairs to see Max watching some buddy cop movie on TV. "Wanna grab a drink and get out of this house?" Max tore her eyes away from the screen. "As long as I get to pick the place. I don't want to end up anywhere near where Janet might have gone. I don't need a bunch of guys in sweater vests hitting on me." Amy giggled and nodded at Max. "Fine, you pick. I'll go get ready and meet you in the car in 15." Max just raised an eyebrow at Amy. "Uh huh. That means I'd be waiting an extra 15 minutes for you to actually be ready. Half hour. The car. You better be ready by then."

Amy headed back up to her room to dress and get ready. She just needed to get out of the house and have some fun. She had already decided that there was no way she was going out looking to meet anyone. She had told herself she needed a break from men and dating. She needed time to work on her. Get to know herself. She knew she was the 'Perfect Score', whatever that really meant. She didn't feel 'perfect' at anything. After more than 3 years at Jameson, she still couldn't figure out if she was doing what she actually wanted to be doing. Amy couldn't deny that being a spy was fun, but none of it felt 'real'.

She laughed at herself. This is exactly why Max had said 30 minutes. 10 minutes had already passed while she stood thinking. She walked to the closet and picked out something casual and comfortable. An old pair of well-worn jeans and a faded blue t-shirt. Both fit her just right. She spent the next few minutes finishing up her preparations to go out. As she left her room she muttered to herself, "Just Amy tonight. The 'Perfect Score' is staying home..."

Max was waiting in the beat up old pickup she'd had since high school. She had the feeling Amy wanted a low-key night out. Max doubted they would attract much attention in a slightly rusted 4x4 with a Vote for Mondale! sticker glued to the tailgate. The VW had it's uses, but Max much preferred the truck. For one thing, it didn't have plaid trim. She saw Amy walk out of the house and redirect her course from the VW to the pickup, and gave Max a big smile. "Good idea," Amy said as she climbed in the truck. "Let's go!"

Amy really didn't care where they went. She gazed out the window lost in her own thoughts while Max hummed along with the radio. Max would never _sing_ along with the radio, but sometimes she hummed, and usually she didn't realize she was doing it. Amy half smiled and decided she wouldn't ask her about it. It was one of the few 'cute' things Max did.

The pickup slowed and pulled into a parking lot in a part of town Amy didn't know very well. She peered out of the passenger side window. "A piano bar? This looks perfect Max! Thanks for coming out with me." She smiled at Max, and Max shrugged back. "Isn't that what a best friend is for?" They climbed out of the truck and entered the bar. Max didn't bother to lock it. No one would want it.

It was barely more than a dimly lit large room, but it was very cozy, with a dozen tables in a half circle around small lighted stage and a large bar in the center. Amy nodded when Max pointed out a table. "Max, I'm going to grab us drinks from the bar. Meet you over there."

Amy took a seat at the nearly empty bar area. The bartender nodded his head towards her and took her drink order. She smiled at him, ordered herself a Stella Artois, and Max a Blue Hawaii.

Yes, a Blue Hawaii. Max never drank around people she knew. Amy accidentally learned the reason why. Max Brewer didn't handle alcohol very well. On a family weekend in her junior year, Amy and her parents drove to the town south of the Jameson campus to eat at a well reviewed bar and grill. Amy found a rather loud and very drunk Max singing "Escape (The Pina Colada Song)" with a group of also very drunk students from a neighboring college. Max's hair was decorated with many tiny paper umbrellas and Amy had to do a triple take before she even realized who it was.

She was actually looking forward to the scowl she was going to get from Max for even ordering her the fruity concoction instead of a Diet Coke.

Before turning away from the bar, Amy decided to order herself a shot of Jack Daniels. "Start the night off right," she said aloud.

"I hear that," a voice responded from across the bar. Amy lifted her eyes from the shot glass in front of her lips towards the owner of the voice. Her soft blue eyes met the warm brown eyes of a brunette sitting directly across from her on the other side of the horseshoe shaped bar.

Amy grinned at her. "Excuse me, bartender? Could I buy her a shot?"


	5. Chapter 5

Janet checked the address four times before getting out of the cab. "Are you sure this is the right place?" she asked the cabbie for the second time. "Yeah lady, this is where you told me ta go." She paid him for the ride, and slid out of the back seat. She stood looking at the run down warehouse, deciding if she was actually going to walk in or not. It looked dirty. She was wearing a brand new light pink cashmere sweater and a much darker pink plaid skirt which nicely showcased her ballerina legs. She certainly didn't want to ruin her outfit. With one more skeptical glance at the warehouse, Janet headed towards the large door and pulled it carefully open.

Loud music assaulted her ears, and she wondered how she was supposed to even find her date here. She quickly realized she stuck out like a sore thumb. Maybe he would find her. She thought back to his profile. His likes: working out, fast cars, and hot women. Or maybe that was hot cars and fast women. Janet rolled her eyes, then noticed a man walking towards her. What looked like a homeless man. Eew. What _smelled _like a homeless man. A 50 year old homeless man.

"Are you Pigtailed Pilferer?" there was a slur to his voice, and little bits of spittle flew out of his mouth as he pronounced the P's. Apparently, he hadn't waited for her to order a drink as his breath alone almost gave her a buzz. Janet's eyes opened wide. She couldn't decide whether to confirm or deny. So she just stared, mouth half open. "Ha ha! You are, aren't you? Well I think you stole my heart!" He looked her up and down, pausing and staring at some choice areas as he did so. "Wow you really got that whole sexy school girl thing down don't you?" She huffed at this and crossed her arms over her chest, weight shifting from one hip to the other. He then reached out and pet her sweater, first on the arm, then right across her chest. She flinched, then audibly gasped, "Oh my god! You just touched my sweater!" On instinct she grabbed his arm, and twisted it behind his back, accidentally dislocating his shoulder. "Don't touch my sweater! It looks like you haven't washed your hands in a week! I think you ruined it!"

His only reaction was to open and close his mouth like a fish, wincing as he did so. Then he wept. Janet was so angry she turned on her heel and stormed out. In the glow of the street lights, she could see black smudge marks on the arm of her sweater. The cab she arrived in was still there, a man was staggering towards the back door, almost ready to climb inside. Exasperated, she ran over to the taxi, and jumped into the back seat just as the man finished opening the door. He was completely surprised and confused at the same time.

"Get me out of here! Um, head to McNulty's." Her night didn't have to be a complete waste. She knew she would be able to get dinner, a drink or two, and some foosball games in before heading home. And a club soda to try and get this smudge out of her new sweater. What a disaster. She was now thinking maybe the profile she had set up wasn't such a good idea. She was going to remove it as soon as she got home.

Scud had settled on definitely setting up an online profile for Lucy. Why not? He wasn't about to go hang out in a lesbian bar. He didn't see that going over too well. Kind of hard to get a conversation going when none of the women there want to talk to you. So he decided to go with his other two ideas, online dating profile, and if that didn't work, speed dating. He knew that one would most likely get him killed. But the look on Lucy's face when he brought her there might be worth it.

In setting up her dating profile, he tried to be as honest as possible. Well as honest as he could be. Not very honest at all. He had to make up a name and profession. "Jewel theft" was not an option under hobbies/interests. So she was Lucy Alice Parks and she worked as a scientist for The Umbrella Corporation. He couldn't help but chuckle as he filled out this profile. Likes: martial arts, weapons training, saving the world, preparing for the Zombie Apocalyspe. Perfect. Dislikes: Australia. He titled her profile "Looking for a Partner for the End of the World." He was a dead man walking.

He decided to celebrate his accomplishment of the (in his opinion) perfect online dating profile. He started to walk the four blocks to McNulty's. He could have a beer or two, play the old Ms. Pac Man arcade game they had there, and kick some ass in foosball. Awesome.

He strolled into the bar, pulling out a $10 and turned towards the change machine. After retrieving his quarters, he ordered himself two beers (as he knew he's be too immersed in the Ms. Pac Man to want to get up for a fresh drink), and walked about ten steps toward the back of the bar to size up his foosball competition. There were no games going on right then, but he spotted a cute girl in a pink sweater and pink plaid skirt with great legs browsing through the jukebox. He noticed a dirty smudge on her sweater kept drawing her attention away from choosing her songs. He half smiled to himself, then turned around and took a seat on the padded stool in front of the video game. "It's on little Ms! You and your little red bow!"


	6. Chapter 6

Lucy smiled back at Amy, trying not to get lost in those bright blue eyes. The bartender brought over a shot glass and the bottle of Jack. He quickly poured her a shot and headed over to the opposite side of the bar. Lucy nodded at Amy and said "Salud." They downed their shots, never losing eye contact. Finally, Amy looked away feeling slightly dazed. She waved to the brunette, grabbed the Stella and the Blue Hawaii, and headed over to the table Max had chosen for them. "_What was that?!_"

"Ah, finally! I was wonder...Hmmph." Max had noticed the drink in Amy's hand. "Very funny." She frowned up at Amy, then smiled. "Ah, what the hell. But you tell anyone about this, and I will hunt you down and kill you."

Amy sat down across from Max, who was watching the stage being set up for the pianist. From where she was sitting, Amy could see the brunette at the bar very obviously ignoring a man who seemed to be attempting to chat her up. She made eye contact with Amy and dramatically rolled her eyes, then blew her bangs out of her face, crossed her arms and leaned her elbows on the bar.

Amy smirked at her and giggled, then shrugged her shoulders in a "whatcha gonna do?" way. Just then the piano started up, and "Honky Cat" filled the bar. Amy relaxed back against the padded booth, sipped her beer, closed her eyes, and, with a small smile on her face, let the music wash over her.

She realized she could hear Max humming again and opened her eyes to call her on it. But over Max's right shoulder she caught a glimpse of that brunette again ("I should have gotten her name!"), sipping a drink, and pretty openly staring at her. Amy admitted to herself that she was intrigued. Then she grew self conscious and wondered if she had a wardrobe malfunction or her hair was messed up or something large was caught between her teeth. She turned to Max and asked her if she looked ok.

Max gave her a curious glance, shrugged and said, "You look fine. I didn't think you were man-hunting tonight." "I'm not!" Amy said slightly more defensively than she needed to. "I just had a feeling that something was out of place. You sure I don't have like something stuck between my teeth?" She bared her pearly whites to Max, who rolled her eyes at her. "No, you're fine. Paranoid, but fine."

From across the room, Lucy watched Max and Amy's interaction and decided they definitely weren't dating. Then she saw the blond bare her teeth at the other girl and quirked her lip up in a half smile. She hadn't meant for the blond to catch her staring, and it seemed like it made her a bit self conscious. Until that point Lucy had decided she was going to talk to the blond girl about her possibly considering a blind date with Scud, but as soon as Lucy saw the "do I have something in my teeth" move she changed her mind. _She might not realize it, but she's into me._ As the thought crossed her mind, a Lucy Diamond world famous grin began to form. The blond was treated to a full wattage smile the next time she looked over at the bar. Game on. Definitely back on the horse.

Amy was having serious trouble concentrating on the music, Max, or anything other than the brunette at the bar. She had to count seconds between sneaking looks over in that direction. To prove that point, Amy realized Max was looking at her incredulously. "Uh Amy, are you even paying attention to the music? Or to me for that matter, as I am trying to _talk_ to you about the music?" "Sorry Max I'm just...distracted today." _By the cute brunette over there. _Amy cleared her throat. She wasn't entirely sure what it was that captured her attention so completely. _Maybe it's that smile. _And her thoughts were confusing. She needed another drink. Or 3. Amy smirked at Max. "Get you another drink? Do you like Pina Coladas? And getting caught in the rain?" Max tried to hold the iciest glare she could, but ended up bursting into giggles. "Very funny Amy. I'll just have that Diet Coke now."

Taking a steadying breath, Amy got up from the table and headed over towards the bar. In a rather bold and un-Amy like move, she walked around to the other side of the bar and sat on the bar stool next to Lucy. She extended her hand and said, "Amy. Bradshaw. Nice to meet you..." "Lucy." There was that smile again! "So, Amy, can I get you a drink this time? Hey, thanks for that shot before, I don't think I realized I needed it."

Amy smiled. "Sure. I'll have a Stella Artois, please." Lucy nodded appreciatively. "Two Stellas, please!" The bartender brought the beer and headed down the bar for another order. Amy sipped at her drink. "So, I think your...friend? is hitting on the piano guy." Amy's eyes opened wide as she looked over towards the piano, and heard the intro to "Escape (The Pina Colada Song). She anxiously bit her lip. "Oh no! She can't really handle her booze, and I did get her a drink. One drink can't really get someone drunk can it?" Lucy had to try very hard to follow the conversation, as her eyes were drawn to the cute and sexy way Amy was biting her lip. "Uh...I don't think so, but umm, maybe. Hey, do you think we could set her up on a blind date with my friend? He doesn't really drink either, and for similar reaso-ah, she's climbing on top of the piano now. Maybe we should go over there?" Lucy raised her eyebrows as she looked from Amy to Max. As Amy glanced over at Max's show, Lucy rolled her eyes in Max's direction.

Amy frowned at the scene Max was making. She had climbed on the piano, lying on the closed lid of the Baby Grand the pianist was, admirably, still playing. She looked over at Lucy, apologetically. "I think maybe I should just handle this one." She paused and narrowed her eyes slightly. "Will I see you again?" Lucy gave Amy another of her patented smiles. "I'd _really_ like that. Here, take my number." Lucy grabbed Amy's hand, and the electricity that shot between them like lightning caused them to gasp slightly and quickly look up at each other. Amy in a slightly confused way, Lucy in a "Wow" way. She rubbed her thumb lightly in a circle across the blond's wrist as she wrote her number in black marker on the palm of Amy's hand.

Reluctant to leave, but noticing out of the corner of her eye that Max was now attempting to be some kind of lounge singer posing on the piano, Amy breathed an almost silent goodbye. She extended her hand again, which Lucy ignored, instead moving in slowly to kiss Amy on the cheek. She could hear the blond's sharp intake of breath. She whispered, "Call soon?" into Amy's ear, then pulled back and walked out of the bar.

For almost ten seconds Amy couldn't move. She seemed rooted to the spot and staring into the space Lucy had just occupied. She felt almost as if she were in a daze. Slowly she shook her head as if to clear it, and realized she could clearly hear Max singing. "...so I wrote to the paper, took out a personal ad. And though I'm nobody's poet, I thought it wasn't half bad!" She turned and half sprinted towards the piano. Miraculously, the piano player was still playing, but belly laughing as he did so. Amy half smiled and apologized, while pulling Max down. "Hey! I wasn't done yet!" _Yes you are! And so am I when you wake up tomorrow and remember what happened! _As Amy reached to grab Max's hand and pull her out of there, she saw a flash of the number written on her palm. She blushed and smiled to herself. "Let's go."


	7. Chapter 7

After achieving a new high score on Ms. Pac Man, Scud got up from his chair and headed to the bar for a refill. Time for some foosball. He ordered his drink and made his way towards the game table. He noticed quite a few people standing around it, cheering and jeering. Interesting, usually foosball doesn't draw many spectators. He eavesdropped on two guys in front of him, catching bits of their conversation. "Unbelievable. Never seen anyone this good." "She's won ten straight games now. She's taken Thompson for everything he had!"

Scud was surprised. Very few people _ever _beat Thompson. He was trying to get a look at this 'she' who cleaned up at the foosball table. He caught a glimpse of pink plaid. He smiled. He made his way through the crowd into the challenger's spot just as "Hot Stuff" began playing on the jukebox. _Sweet! Entrance music._

Janet was scooping up the last of the cash she had won, when she noticed a man step up to the edge of the foosball table. She almost laughed when "Hot Stuff" seemed to start on cue. She swung her ponytail from one shoulder to the other, and said, "Game?" He eyed her with a flair of recognition, and asked her, "Did you go to Dalton?" She looked at him curiously and nodded, "Yeah." Then she smiled and said, "Let's see what you got 'Hot Stuff'." He smiled back and said, "I am a god at foosball."

They had a very heated, very back and forth foosball match. In the end, Scud ended up winning the fourth tiebreaker. The crowd quickly dispersed as 'The Champ's winning streak came to an end. Janet reapplied her shiny lip gloss, and said, "Good game. Another?" He was surprised. Usually when the one running the table lost a match, they were done. He shrugged. "Ok, sure." He paused slightly, and looked at the black smudge on her sweater. "Hey, I like your sweater, but I was wondering...what happened to it?" Janet pressed her lips together in a thin line. "A jerk ruined it! Do you really like it? I have it in taupe too!"

They played another very close game, Janet coming out the victor in this match. She grabbed her coat, intent on heading home since she was becoming quite self conscious about her sweater. She and Scud had exchanged emails, and she couldn't help but thinking that maybe the night wasn't a total loss after all. Not only did she rack up $236.50 in foosball winnings, snag a really nice teal scarf from an unsuspecting girl playing pool (hey, if she really liked it she would have kept a better eye on it), but she also met a nice guy. Which reminded her, she really needed to remove her online dating profile.

Scud walked her to the large double wooden doors of the bar. "Nice to meet you Janet." "Nice to meet you too Scud. Oh, and by the way - I let you win." With that she twirled around on her pretty ballerina legs and walked out to the cab Scud had called for her. He opened his mouth and raised his hand up to yell something out, closed his mouth. Opened it again, and closed it. He just shook his head and walked back inside for a few more rounds with Ms. Pac Man.

Lucy made it back to the lair and flopped down on her bed, slightly shell-shocked from her evening. She flipped on her iPod and hit play without looking. _Every time I think of you, I feel shot right through with a bolt of blue. _You can say that again New Order. She was trying to recall if she'd ever felt such a natural and instant connection with someone. She wasn't talking about attraction. God knows she's had plenty of natural and instant attractions with _many_ women. It was almost a tangible thing. She could feel it. She shook her head. She hoped she hadn't made a mistake by not getting _her_ number. At least she had her full name.

Lucy sat up. She wanted to call off the bet she'd made with Scud. But then she thought of Max lying on top of that piano and she chuckled to herself. If she'd wanted Amy to call her before, she really wanted it now. Lucy had a pretty strong feeling no good would come out of whomever (or whatever) Scud found her dates with. All her 'spidey senses' were tingling. So she would fight fire with fire. Starting with Max.

She changed into a tank top and comfy pair of boxer shorts, brushed her teeth and got ready for sleep. If Scud had looked into her eyes at that moment, he'd know for sure she was plotting something. You could almost _hear _the gears turning. So with thoughts and images of Amy in her head followed by plots to get back at Scud for something he had not yet done, Lucy drifted off to sleep.


	8. Chapter 8

Max opened her eyes and yawned. She stopped mid stretch and groaned mightily. She focused on a point of light on the wall opposite her bed. _Ugh, my head. _She sighed. _At least Amy was the _only_one with me. _She swung her feet off of the bed and onto the plush carpeted floor and got up. She followed the smell of coffee into the kitchen and poured herself a cup, then walked out of the front door and grabbed the paper. It was less singed than it normally was. The paperboy must have hit the force field at a perfect angle. She was looking forward to actually being able to read the whole thing. She sat down on the couch and sipped her coffee, glancing at the cover.

Max heard the snap-hiss of a lighter being lit. She looked up suddenly, and tried not to look surprised when she realized that at some point, Dominique had silently joined her on the couch. She took a sip of her black coffee, and a long drag of her cigarette. She blew out a cloud of smoke. "Zis place is so boring," said Dominique as she raised her eyebrows slightly.

Unfolding the paper and opening the cover, Max ignored her and began reading. There was a small, but interesting article on page 2 about how the notorious Lucy Diamond had resurfaced somewhere in Europe a few days ago after having been "in hiding" for nearly two years. She then went on to read some article about upcoming construction on one of the freeways near the Debs house, and a less interesting article about skirt lengths in the upcoming fashion season.

Amy padded down the stairs and headed to the kitchen, rubbing her eyes as she did so. Max heard the refrigerator door open and glasses clinking. The blender started up. Max frowned at the pain roaring in her head. _Am I really hung over? I just had one drink._ Ugh. She thought again about the piano incident from last night.

Amy appeared in the living room with some kind of smoothie and sat down in the arm chair across from the couch. She looked over at Max and smiled. Max gave her a meaningful look, trying to convey that if Amy said anything, she would be facing her own death. Amy just nodded, and gave Max a full on smile. She sipped her smoothie, and looked towards Dominique. "You're up early."

"I smelled ze coffee. And ze boy with me was...how you say? Pigging up ze bed." Amy giggled. I think you mean 'hogging'. "Zis is what I say, non?" Janet emerged from the kitchen with a bowl of cereal and a glass of orange juice. She rolled her eyes at Dominique. "Speak English or French. Frenglish is not a language." Then Janet rolled her eyes at Dominique's cigarette. "During breakfast? Some people are eating!" Janet looked at Max. "Tell her to put it out please!"

Max turned her head to look at Dominique. "What? It is done anyway!" She blew a smoke ring towards Janet and crushed her cigarette out in the ashtray. She returned to sipping at her coffee. Amy smiled again at Max. Max furrowed her brow and said, "Why do you keep smiling at me?"

Now with a full on grin at Max, Amy declared, "You have a blind date tonight!" Max looked at Amy and said nothing. She looked at Janet, who looked anywhere but at Max for fear she'd burst into laughter. She looked at Dominique, who actually happened to look slightly less bored at the moment.

"Oh hell no! With who? Did I...The piano player?"

Amy laughed, "No! I made a, um, friend last night who says her friend would be perfect for you. Neither of you drink." Dominique chimed in, "You could use some fun. You are tres serieuse." Max sighed. _It has certainly been a long time. _"OK. But you ever do this again and..." Amy looked appropriately apologetic. "I know, you'll hunt me down and kill me." Janet frowned at Max. She turned to Dominique and said, "I got a new scarf last night! It's teal. It will match one of my new sweaters perfectly! Max, if you'd like to borrow...you know, for your date..." Max honestly didn't know whether to laugh or explode at Janet. Instead she put her hand to her head, and lifted the paper and hid between it's pages. Dom looked at Janet, raised one eyebrow, and said, "When 'ave you ever seen Max wear a sweater?" She got up and went to the kitchen for more coffee. Janet responded, "What? It wouldn't kill her to look nice." Max shook her paper, and turned the page, hands crumpling it where she held it. Janet opened her mouth to say more, thought better of it, and went back to eating her cereal instead. Amy held back a laugh and walked towards the stairs. Halfway up, she looked down at the black marker on her hand, blushed and smiled. She was definitely looking forward to this call.

Lucy's heart practically skipped two beats when her phone rang. She checked the call ID, and then her heart did skip two beats. It was just a number, no contact name. _Is it her? _She tried to calm herself down to a level that wouldn't be considered over-eager. "Hello?"

"Hi! It's um Amy. Bradshaw. From last night? At the piano bar? You know the one with..."

"Yeah I remember!" _I couldn't forget if I tried! _"I'm glad you called."

Amy could practically hear the smile in Lucy's voice. Then she realized she had a big dumb smile on her own face. _This girl has quite the effect on you Bradshaw. _"So...I talked to Max about the date with your friend. Is tonight ok?"

_Yes! Not only did I manage to land blind date numero uno for Scud, but Amy called me! _What a perfect morning. "Yeah tonight should be fine. How about 8pm at ah, I dunno, I've been out of town for a long time. What's a good place for them to go?"

Amy considered it for a moment. Max loved Mexican food. At least she can plan this at a place where it wouldn't be a total loss if it didn't work out. Max certainly loved to eat. "Nueva Merida. It's a quiet little Mexican place. That should be perfect."

Lucy grabbed a pencil and jotted it down on a piece of scrap paper. There was a silence on the line for a few seconds. Lucy took a chance. "Um so, hey, did you want to grab a bite with me later tonight?"

Amy bit her bottom lip, blushed and didn't answer right away. She couldn't. She was too busy deciding what the butterflies in her stomach signified when Lucy asked her to dinner. "Oh, ah, yeah. Yes. I would really like that. What time and where?"

Lucy knew Amy was biting her lip at that moment, and almost forgot to answer. She shook herself out of her daze and tapped her bottom lip with the pencil. _I know the perfect place_. "How about you meet me at that piano bar at say...7?"

"That's perfect."

At this point, the conversation was for all intents and purposes, over. Yet neither one of them seemed to want to hang up the phone. Amy felt like she wanted to say something, but didn't know what. She felt like just shared silence over the phone was more real communication than she and Bobby had had their entire relationship.

Lucy felt a small smile form on her face. "I was hoping you would call. Especially because I didn't get your number."

Amy blushed yet again, and smiled a shy smile. _What is it with this girl making me blush constantly? _"I'm glad I did. Max needs a date. Badly. But the night was cut short, and I wasn't really ready to leave when I did last night." Amy paused again, but now felt slightly awkward. "Um, ok, I'll see you later then."

Lucy sighed lightly, but she knew she had to talk to Scud about blind date number one. "Ok. See you at 7?"

"Yes, 7. Can't wait to see y-..." Amy blushed. This time her entire face, down her neck and top of her chest blushed bright red. _Wha? Did I really just say that? Did I really just _think _that?_

_Yeah, I was right, she's into me. _Lucy, cocky as ever at that confirmation, ended the phone call by saying, "I can't wait to see you either."

Amy looked down at the cellphone. _What was that? I can't wait to see her? _She had no doubt tonight would be interesting. She jumped as the phone, still in her hand, started to ring. Ugh. "You Are My Sunshine." _I really _hate_ this song. _Amy hit ignore and laid back on her bed.


	9. Chapter 9

As Lucy walked into Scud's room, she saw him straightening his tie in the mirror. _His tie? What is he thinking?_ "Uh Scud..." "Think it's too much, Luce?" "Yeah. Definitely too much. It's polka dotted. Your shirt is striped. Bad." Scud sighed. "This is retarded."

Lucy chuckled at him. "You are just mad because you have to go on your blind date first." At that statement, Scud wheeled around and whipped his tie off and twirled it in the air like a lasso. "Well I might be going first, but you're going tomorrow!" He tried to rope Lucy but failed. Lucy's smile fell a little and she rolled her eyes at him. Scud's smile only grew. "Just promise me you'll be open." Lucy furrowed her brows slightly, and she turned around to pick out a more suitable shirt for Scud. "Open to what?"

"Open to love!" She grabbed one of his t-shirts and tossed it into his face. "I am open to love! In fact, I have a...date tonight myself." Scud's eyebrows shot up as he pulled his button down shirt off. "Anyone I know?" "Nope. Met her the other night when I stopped at that piano bar."

Scud pulled the t-shirt Lucy threw at him on and checked himself out in the mirror. "I didn't know lesbians liked piano bars." Lucy smacked him playfully on the arm. "Well, I'm glad we have a few surprises left then." Scud laughed, and turned from the mirror. "Does this make me look fat?" Lucy rolled her eyes at him again as she walked out of the room.

* * *

Five minutes before they were to leave, Max was trying to back out. "I should really be cleaning my weapon." "Um Max you clean it three times a day. Everyday. And, I know for a fact you've already done it all three times today." Amy eyed her, slightly concerned for her friend. Max seemed nervous, and that was just so un-Max. "There will be plenty of time tomorrow to clean it again. Now, you look fine, it's at Nueva Merida, so if you don't like the guy you can just focus on your yummy food and leave." Max nodded. "I do love their food."

"There's nothing to be worried about Max." At the mere mention that she might in someway _be_ nervous or scared, Max toughened up. Amy could see the change take place. Max stood up straighter, held her head high, and set her face with a look of determination. "Not going to war here Max, just a date." Amy smirked at Max, and Max scowled back at her. Max muttered something Amy thought was "blind dates are overrated."

Max and Amy climbed into the truck, which was made easier by the casual way both had dressed for their respective nights out. Max was wearing black slacks, high heeled boots and a light colored cowl neck top, going for the 'nice, but not too nice' look. Meanwhile Amy, who wasn't sure exactly what you would call her outing for the night went with a classic approach, dark blue jeans, low heels, and a white tank top. Janet had let her borrow a light blue cardigan just in case it got a bit chilly. Max started up the truck and pulled out of the driveway.

* * *

Lucy sat at the same spot she had the night before. She figured that would make it easy for Amy to find her. She was watching the piano man play some song she'd never heard, when she turned her head and saw Amy walking towards the bar. '_...With her killer graces and her secret places that no boy can fill...With her hands on her hips, oh, and that smile on her lips because she knows that it kills me._' All Lucy could think at that moment was that whomever wrote that song must have had Amy Bradshaw in mind.

Amy didn't see Lucy when she walked in, but she heard the Bruce Springsteen. Two thoughts simultaneously crossed her mind. _I love this song. Is _she _the one?_ She stopped walking and looked around, continuing her inner conversation. _She? _Amy didn't think she would even be here if she wouldn't consider _she. _What surprised her was that she had accepted that fact with no contemplation about it. She wondered if that was something about herself, or something about Lucy. Amy decided these were thoughts for another time. She resumed her search for Lucy, smiling to herself. She put her hands on her hips and took another look around the bar. She spotted Lucy sitting where she had been sitting the other night.

She locked eyes with Lucy and was rewarded with one of those killer smiles. Lucy patted the bar stool next to hers, and Amy returned her smile and walked over. Amy was glad she had dressed on the casual side, as Lucy was dressed casually herself, in black slacks and a black tie front shirt.

Amy sat down on the bar stool, and Lucy grabbed Amy's hand. Again both were mildly surprised by the little jolt they both got from the contact. Lucy turned Amy's hand over, and saw her number, still on Amy's palm. It was mostly faded, but it was there. Lucy smirked, Amy pulled her hand away and said, "Yeah. Did you have to use a permanent marker? I scrubbed my hands for 10 minutes trying to wash it off." "Couldn't have it washing off before you called me, now could I?" Amy pouted. "Make it up to me and buy me a beer." Lucy laughed and leaned over the bar to catch the bartender's attention.

Unintentionally, she also caught Amy's attention. Amy tried to _not _stare at Lucy's body as she was half standing, bent over the bar. She didn't do a very good job of it, as her eyes were drawn to Lucy's rear. Lucy glanced back at Amy, followed her line of sight and realized what Amy was doing. Amy managed to pry her eyes away only to realize she'd been caught by Lucy. She bit her bottom lip and blushed, looking away. Lucy smirked to herself and took pity on Amy. She grabbed the two Dos Equis she had ordered and handed one to Amy. She took Amy's hand and dragged her to the section of tables by the piano.

* * *

Max arrived at Nueva Merida a little early, about a quarter to 8. She walked into the restaurant and up the two steps to the bar area. She sat at the bar and ordered a club soda with a twist of lime. _No alcohol for you tonight Brewer. _She was sitting about three seats away from the bar's only other patron at the moment, a man who looked to be two maybe three years older than her. He had a drink and kept looking around uncomfortably. She could swear she heard him mumble, "I'd rather be playing bingo," and "She's ugly, I just know it. But I'm sure she has a nice personality. I'm so gonna kill her. Just have to get through this first." He was beginning to make her slightly concerned about his sanity.

She turned her chair toward him and said, "Hey, are you ok?" He didn't react. She spoke louder this time. "Heeey! Are you O.K.?" He looked up startled. "Are you talking to me?" She nodded at him, like one would nod slowly at someone they didn't think understood them.

"Oh. Um. No. Not really. I'm here for a blind date, and I really don't want to be. My best friend thinks I'm desperate. But, you know, I'm not. I'm quite a catch!" He was rambling now. "And I know she's set me up with some loser, or some bitch, or some mutant just to mess with me. And it's not like an online date, I don't even know what she looks like. I have standards you know? I mean what if she's too stupid to carry on a conversation? Or we have nothing to talk abo..."

Max was livid. "Some loser? Some bitch? Some _mutant?_ Are you serious little man?" Max was beyond any kind of reasoning ability. Somewhere in her brain, she knew he had no idea she was the blind date. Although he was sure to realize it now. "It's you, isn't it?" was all Scud managed to get out. Max was seeing red at the unintentional insults. She stood and stomped over to him. He would later swear he could see steam coming out of her ears. She reeled back and punched him square in the jaw. His teeth clicked together and he just missed biting off a chunk of his tongue. What he didn't know was how lucky he was she wasn't armed. He just collapsed to the ground dazed, and Max walked out of the bar before he really had a chance to piece together just what had actually happened.


	10. Chapter 10

Lucy slid into a booth, pulling Amy in with her. They settled comfortably, and listened to the song the pianist was playing.

_Oh darling all of these awkward jump-start-stalling conversations,  
Mean much more to me than anything,  
So it comes down to me and you and,  
Whether were supposed to or not we still will,  
We're so much better off than them,  
All the possibility and promise just,  
Weighs on me so heavily_

Amy smiled at Lucy and took a sip of her beer. She knew they would talk at some point, but the intimacy of just sharing this small, mostly private space with her was too perfect to be interrupted yet. Lucy smiled back, trying to decipher the signals she felt Amy was giving her. She knew Amy was into her, but couldn't tell if Amy was ready to act on it yet. Lucy extended her arm across the back of the booth, and felt Amy settle back against it. Lucy moved her arm slightly, surprised by the contact, and Amy slightly pouted at her. Lucy settled her arm back where it was, and Amy leaned into Lucy a bit more than before.

_And I try but I'm not convincing,__  
__Your lips they pout and twist and,__  
__I die trying just to keep myself from kissing you,__  
__You take in everything with a certainty I envy_

_It's somehow all I need just keep me guessing please!_

Lucy thought, "_Really with this song?_"

Amy had never heard the song, but was listening to the lyrics as well. She felt it was strangely fitting, and that last verse hit her as being especially appropriate. Was she keeping Lucy guessing? She supposed so. Amy found herself at a bit of a loss. She had never felt this strongly, this quickly for anyone, yet she felt no need to rush anything, nor did she feel Lucy was rushing her. She felt no need to label anything. It just felt right. Amy was so sure of it, even though she knew she barely knew this girl. She looked at Lucy and smiled. The song ended, and Lucy and Amy spent a long moment holding eye contact.

Although the silence they shared was a comfortable one, Amy broke it with a question. "So you said yesterday that you haven't been in town for a while?" Amy caught a hint of sadness in Lucy's eyes. "I was out of the country for a little over two years. I got screwed over pretty badly, had my heart broken and I needed to get away."

Amy considered this for a moment. "I broke up with my boyfriend two weeks ago. But I don't know if I would say I was heart broken about it." Lucy weighed the statement. "Why not?" "I don't know, it just, it wasn't...I think love should be irresistible. Like a drug, you know?" Lucy leaned back into the booth and a small smile found her lips as she listened. "I think when it happens, you should just, not be able to help yourself. I just, I wanted...more." Amy shook her head. "I'm babbling." Lucy took Amy's hand again and gave a gentle squeeze. "No, you're not at all."

They spent the next 20 minutes talking, laughing, and discovering little details about each other. Things like Lucy's obsession with cartoons and Giallo movies, and Amy's collection of 45s and love of classic rock. The honky tonk song that was playing ended, and a slow quiet ballad started.

Lucy was surprised at how relaxed and easy this felt. Walls she had thrown up two years ago were apparently full of holes Amy navigated through like she had a map. Those last years had made Lucy a bit cynical and jaded, but she was hard pressed to find that part of herself right now.

Lucy wanted her, without a doubt, but was still unsure what Amy thought. She looked for signs in Amy's body language. She looked into Amy's clear blue eyes again. Lucy saw no hesitation there, even though she herself was hesitant. It didn't feel like all that long ago that her heart felt as if it were ripped right out of her chest and stomped on. But the surety in Amy's eyes, someone so much more naïve than she was, melted away any of the hesitation she felt. She leaned in towards Amy, only going part of the way there, leaving Amy open to decide.

Amy made that decision rather quickly, and moved in to meet her when an incredibly loud bang! echoed through the bar, causing even the unflappable piano man to hit a wrong note. It was Max. And even from across the crowded room, Amy could tell Max was _pissed. _"Um...I think I'm gonna have to go. I haven't seen her look this mad since..." Amy's eyes flew open in alarm. She looked quickly at Lucy. "You should go make sure your friend is ok." With that Amy half ran half jogged across the room to head Max off before she got them both thrown out.

Lucy groaned and slammed a fist down on the table. She was _thisclose. _She knew Amy was a student, but had no idea when her classes were, or where she even went to school. Scud had told her she had the first of her blind dates tomorrow. Lucy had no idea when she would get to see Amy again, but what she did know what that she wanted it to be as often as possible. She looked over at Amy trying to calm down Max, who was as mad a woman as Lucy had ever seen. _Scud certainly leaves an impression on people. I hope she didn't hurt him too bad. _She scooted out of the booth and left quietly through a side exit, sliding in the Skymobile and heading home to the evil lair.


	11. Chapter 11

Max woke up the next morning very grumpy. Her hand was bruised and slightly swollen, and her ego even more so. She rolled out of bed and padded downstairs to the kitchen barefoot. Apparently someone was already awake, there was a fresh pot of coffee waiting. She poured a cup and headed out for the paper.

Max opened the front door, but all that remained of the newspaper was a largish pile of ashes which was blowing away as she stared at it. She sighed and closed the door. _Guess I'll watch the news today. _Max let loose a string of expletives as she turned to find Dominique right behind her. "WHAT?!" Dominique raised one eyebrow in mild surprise. "Ze paper is destroyed. I came to tell you." "You need to stop sneaking around all the time, you are freaking me out!"

Dominique smiled, and retreated to the living room, where she sat on the couch, sipping a cup of black coffee and smoking a cigarette. "I put ze news on. Some interesting stories."

Grainy photos of Lucy Diamond and Henchman Scud appear on the screen. "Lucy Diamond spotted on US soil for the first time in over two years! Next! After this commercial break."

It was Max's turn to raise her eyebrow. _Lucy Diamond's back! I can't believe it. I'd almost thought she'd retired and become a hermit, or got knocked up by some boy toy and settled down to have millions of babies. _She paused. _That henchman looked familiar though. I just can't place him. "_Hey Dom, does this guy look familiar to you?" Max thought about that question. She wondered if _every_ guy looked familiar to Dominique. Dom looked at the photo on the television without much curiosity. "Non. I have never seen 'im."

As if to disagree with her, all of the communicators around the house started to ring out the alarm. Mr. Phipps was blaring out at all of them to wake up. Max jumped up off of the couch and headed to the stairs to make sure Amy and Janet were awake. She glanced back at Dominique. "Oui, I'll get ready. And I know, 'no boys upstairs after ze curfew.'" Max paused, grinned at her, and said, "I didn't know this time." She wagged an accusing finger at her. The alarm had definitely brightened her mood. She turned and ran up the stairs, two at a time.

"AMY! JANET! Wake up! Let's go!" Max slammed the door of her room and pulled on her skirt, shirt, tie and boots. She slid her hand cannon into the holster she had strapped at the small of her back and flung her door back open. She knocked once and opened Janet's door. "Let's go!" "Have you seen my gun?" Max set her jaw and stared Janet down. "No, I haven't. You have 3 minutes." She closed Janet's door and moved down the hallway to Amy's room. Amy opened her door just as Max was grabbing for the doorknob. "Seriously Bobby, stop calling me!" Max flinched at the unexpected scream in her face. She scowled at Amy and headed down the stairs and out to the VW.

Dominique, Janet and Amy piled into the Beetle and Max floored it out of the driveway. In a ridiculously short amount of time, they were at the Debs campus diner, seated at the booth reserved for the Top Squad. Max and Dom on one side of Mr. Phipps, Amy and Janet on the other.

"We have a special guest with us this morning. Ms. Petrie." "Oh my god, she never comes here!"

Ms. Petrie ported in to the diner, right in front of the Deb Squad's table. "Ladies." Max jumped on this opportunity to try and get herself noticed. "Ms. Petrie I just wanted to say what a pleasure it is to finally meet you..." "No time for pleasantries. Phipps, a matter of some urgency has come to my attention. Lucy Diamond is back in the states."

Max exclaimed, "Oh my god, the rumors on the news were true!" Dominique nodded at Max, "Oh shit!" Amy's reaction was somewhat excited and hopeful, "You're kidding! I'm writing my thesis on her!" Max raised an eyebrow at Amy's exclamation.

Ms. Petrie looked hard at Phipps. "I expect to be kept in the loop on this one. Let's show some hustle!" She then made a dramatic exit, winking out of existence, leaving a _whoosh_ of air behind in her wake. All Max could think of to say was, "Wow." She had half believed the news reports were gossip. Amy let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. "I can't believe she's back."

Janet was confused by the entire last few minutes. "Who is Lucy Diamond?" Phipps took this as his cue to start their briefing. He went over Lucy Diamond's history, impressive resume, list of known accomplices, and her terrifying reputation. Amy looked again at the now familiar photos she'd come to stare at quite often while writing her thesis. This time however, she couldn't help but notice some similarities between Lucy Diamond and another (perhaps the same) Lucy she knew.

Max was also again looking at the photos, the same she had seen earlier on the news. She had that feeling again that she recognized 'Scud'. But once again, she couldn't place him. Her food arrived, and her train of thought was interrupted. "So um, why do you think she's back in town?"

Phipps opened a new holographic image, this time of a young blond woman, probably close to the age of the Debs sitting at the table. "Our intel suggests she is in town to meet this woman, Ninotchka Kaprova. Ex-KGB, now freelance assassin. They are scheduled to meet tonight at 2000 hours. Find out what Lucy is up to. Strictly surveillance. Do not try to apprehend her yourselves. Max you're in charge, Amy, you're second. And Debs, be careful."

The four girls sat with their own thoughts for the next few minutes. Amy wondering about the two Lucys. Max, excited about a real, and possibly dangerous mission. Janet slightly terrified, deciding what exactly she should do about the fact that she had not only kicked Lucy Diamond's henchman's ass in foosball but exchanged emails with him as well. Dominique, dragged only slightly out of her boredom by the Lucy Diamond news, was watching the busboy bend over to clear off a table.

* * *

Lucy handed a bag of ice to Scud. "You said what?! Scud, have you no tact? It's called a 'blind date' for a reason. You had no idea what this girl looked like, so you go and...ugh!"

Scud looked up at her from his chair. "I know...I don't know. I...I decided to have a drink and calm my nerves. You know how I get when I drink gin."

Lucy couldn't help but laugh at that. "You tried to calm your nerves with a drink that you know makes you anxious and crazy?" Scud shrugged. "I asked the bartender to make me something that tasted good, but didn't look too girly. He poured me something he called a 'Negroni'. It was yummy. I didn't find out until I was well into my second that it had gin."

Lucy shook her head. "The way Mad Max looked last night, I'd guess you are lucky she just clocked you in the jaw. Looks like you'll live." Scud looked up at her and tried to smile, but it turned into a painful grimace. "Hopefully your date will go better than mine." Lucy had forgotten about her date. She groaned aloud. "Cancel it."

She got up and walked out of Scud's area of the evil lair, moving towards her own. Scud got up, chasing after Lucy, "Oh no you don't. I went to mine, you need to go. It's all set up!"

"Scud..." she stopped, turned around and looked at him. "I got punched. In the face."

"You've got a date tonight with a beautiful Russian assassin, and you're going to show up. Lucy..."

"Fine," she said, rolling her eyes. He stared her down, not letting her off the hook on this one. "Ok, I'll show up. But if my date is as bad as yours...I might be more pissed at you than Mad Max was."


	12. Chapter 12

Amy left the diner and headed to her first class. She considered giving Lucy a call, but she wasn't to sure what to say. "Hey, did anyone ever tell you that you kind of resemble grainy photos of super villian Lucy Diamond? And how funny you have the same name? Oh, and if you are actually Lucy Diamond, do you think I'd be able to ask you some questions so I can better write my thesis?" She laughed at herself a little. She then walked past a poster "Security Starts at Home, Only You Can Spy on Your Neighbors!" which she was the star of and began laughing even harder. Sometimes she really didn't know what she was doing here. That thought made her want to call Lucy again. She was just going in circles today.

There was a note taped to the door of "Capes and Capers: Gender Reconstruction and the Criminal Mastermind." No class today. Amy sighed. This was a once a week class so it was 3 hours long. _Looks like I have a lot of free time on my hands. _Before Amy fully even realized what she was doing, she had looked up Lucy in her contact list and hit the call button.

* * *

Lucy looked down at her phone and smiled. "Hey you. I didn't think I'd be hearing from you today." Hearing from Amy really made her want to cancel her blind date. The whining she would have to hear from an already hurt and whiny Scud changed her mind. She heard Amy respond, "My only class today was cancelled. I have some time to kill and I just wanted to say...well, say 'hi' I guess."

Lucy could hear the smile in Amy's voice. She hoped it had more to do with the fact she was talking to her than the fact her class was canceled. Ever the confident one, Lucy asked. "So, do you sound so happy because you have no class, or because you are talking to me?"

Amy smirked. "My class." The grainy picture from her briefing flashed across her mind and she grew slightly serious. "I gotta run Lucy, but maybe I'll see you soon?" "No maybes about it. Call you tomorrow?" "I'll be looking forward to it! Bye!"

Janet caught up with Amy after seeing the note on the classroom door. "Were you talking to Bobby? You look all girly-blushy-happy." Amy looked over at Janet. "Is that the look you see on my face when I'm talking to Bobby?" Janet blinked and surprised Amy by chuckling. "No, I don't think I've ever seen you look quite that way where Bobby was concerned. No chance, huh?" Amy smiled. _Finally. _"Nope." Janet nodded. "So...who was that then?"

Amy really didn't know how to answer, but she was saved at that moment by Janet's cellphone ringing. Janet froze as she reached for it in her small purse. "_...if you want to destroy my sweater, pull this thread as I walk away..." _She looked at Amy, alarmed. "I hate this song!" Amy grinned. "Payback's a bitch, huh?"

* * *

It was about 7 pm that the Debs arrived at Les Deux Amours, a restaurant that dubbed itself "Trendy, Yet Discreet." Amy wondered exactly what that meant. She also wondered why the restaurant was four floors and had cathedral ceilings. They were perched in their surveillance swings, high above everyone dining. Amy looked over at Dominique. She had the new listening device Debs HQ had come up with, but it looked somewhat ridiculous on the French-Asian beauty. She was listening to random conversations going on far below them. She, of course, had a cigarette dangling from the corner of her mouth. "Um, Dom, where are you ashing that cigarette?" Dominique smiled at Amy. "Best I can tell, onto ze toupee of ze man below me!" Janet couldn't contain her laughter. "That's the man that grabbed my ass!" Amy, Max and Dom all looked over at Janet slightly surprised. They all shared a laugh.

Janet's cellphone began playing "The Sweater Song" again and she turned bright red. Max actually snorted and teetered on her swing she was laughing so hard. She answered and looked over at Amy. "It's Bobby." Amy shook her head. "I don't want to talk to him." Janet relayed the message. Dom looked at Janet. "Just hang up ze phone." Janet shrugged and ended the call.

Not ten seconds later Bobby repelled down from somewhere above them. "Babe, we need to talk." The Debs looked up and around the restaurant. It was then they noticed several other government agencies staked out through the restaurant. Better late than never.

"Why do you have to be such a jerk about everything?" Bobby looked confused. "Well when my girlfriend breaks up with me for no reason after eight months, you'll excuse me if I'm a little hostile." Amy was surprised. "It's not for no reason." "Well then gimme one!" Amy thought of all the times she had given him all of the reasons, but when he asked this time she simply said, "I just want more." "More what?" Bobby was really starting to frustrate her. "I don't know." What Amy really wanted to say was _I think I finally know. But you would never understand._ "Is there somebody else?"

Amy almost said _maybe. _"No, there is nobody else." Bobby didn't even seem to be listening to her anymore. "If there's somebody else I swear to god..." "I just..." Amy began. "Speak!" "I'm not in love with you." _There it is. _"Well. I guess nobody's good enough for little Miss Perfect Score." "Shut up!" Bobby had finally said something that hit home for Amy. "Oh yeah, you'll be back." With that, he ascended further up into the rafters. Amy thought what he had said. She was tired of the Perfect Score label. She reminded herself that her relationship with Bobby just hadn't felt _right. _It didn't feel the way she thought love was supposed to feel. However, she had other things to deal with right now. It was time to work.

At about 7:30 pm, Ninotchka Kaprova arrived. "Wow, she's early," Janet noted. Max looked at her and said, "Well if I were an assassin, I'd want to check the place out, make sure I wasn't being set up." Janet shrugged and Max shook her head disappointingly at Janet. But Ninotchka did no such thing. She was seated at a table, and she just...sat there. She didn't remove her coat, she didn't sip her water. At exactly 8 pm, she picked up her menu and looked at it. Then she put it down. And picked it up again five minutes later.

* * *

Scud and Lucy pulled up to the 'Trendy Yet Discreet' restaurant about five minutes before the date. Lucy was still very reluctant to go. They sat in silence out front of Les Deux Amours. Finally, Scud couldn't wait anymore. "Luce, you realize this is the first of three dates." He put his fingers up, one at a time, counting to three. He waggled his three fingers. "Why is it I can hold the whole world hostage, but I'm scared to go on one stupid blind date?" "Because...love is harder than crime. Ok, now, knock em dead." He decided he might actually need to clarify his last statement. Just to be sure she didn't kill someone if this date went badly. "But not really!"

At 10 minutes after 8, Lucy walked into Les Deux Amours. Amy closed her eyes. She knew by the way she walked to the table that the Lucys were one and the same. Plus she doubted anyone else could look that good in a leather coat. She just needed the extra confirmation the binoculars would bring. Janet talked to Amy about sweaters while Amy tried to patiently wait for Max to pass the binoculars. Suddenly the binoculars were in her hands and Amy wasn't sure if she really wanted to look. She put them up to her eyes. Her first thought was _My god she looks good._ "Wow. Lucy Diamond. She's..." Amy stopped what she was about to say. But Max forced that issue. "What?" "Real. I-I never thought I'd see her in person." Amy realized she had a lot to think about. Including the fact that she was incredibly attracted to a supervillian.

Several minutes went by. Amy watched Lucy and Ninotchka place their order with the waiter as she sat on her perch high above them. She listened as Dominique shared what was being discussed at the table. "They are talking about killing, and how to kill, and who to kill..." Amy was becoming slightly distressed. She saw Kaprova make a strange broad sweeping gesture with her arms. _What was that about?_ She asked Dominique, but she cursed softly in French and mumbled something about not being able to hear what she had said.

Bobby repelled back down to Amy at that moment, asking Amy for his father's bracelet back. Amy had forgotten all about it. Looking down at her wrist she realized she was still wearing it. Amy was slightly exasperated, but started to unclasp it. Bobby grabbed her wrist and also tried to remove it. Before either of them could do anything about it, it fell off of her wrist and out of the grasp of either of them, tumbling down to the table below. And it landed right in Lucy Diamond's soup.

Partially relieved that her conversation with Ninotchka had been interrupted, Lucy looked up and wondered why it was raining bracelets. She saw four Debs agents up on surveillance swings, with what looked like a SWAT agent or possibly Homeland Security with them. Her relief changed to annoyance, and not even the fact that she could see up the short skirts of the agents above her was enough to squash that. She reached for her gun, but did not pull it out of her jacket. She had no desire for any innocent people to get hurt.

Then everything went to hell. Someone fired a shot, she wasn't sure who, and the vase on her table exploded. It all happened so fast. She fired shots back and dove behind the bar. Ninotchka followed. Lucy was in no mood to chit chat with her anymore, and she decided that this date had to be worse than Scud's. She tried to placate the woman, who seemed to be getting more and more upset at her. _This is unbelievable._ She went through the it's not you, it's me line, finally telling Ninotchka that she just wasn't interested. The assassin didn't take that so well, saying something about Lucy dying alone. The only thing preventing her from rolling her eyes were the gunshots still being fired in her direction. Ninotchka apparently saw a clear path to an exit and took off out of the restaurant. "Shit. Shit shit shit." Lucy looked quickly over the bar and saw a Deb walking...no strutting towards her. A Deb that looked an awful lot like Max, strangely. Lucy needed to make her own exit. She grabbed a metal table off of its stand and ran across the restaurant toward a side exit, holding it in front of her like a shield.

Amy took some half-hearted shots in the general direction of Lucy, not wanting to hit her, but not wanting any crap from Max either. She sighed in relief when Lucy finally slipped out a side door. _I guess we are going to have to talk about this. _She shook her head slightly and realized Max was giving orders. Janet was questioning them. She loved Janet, but improvising was not her strong point. Any second now, Max was going to bring up Janet's stripes, or lack there of. Amy was not disappointed but she was growing impatient. She began tapping her foot and looked up at the ceiling. _We need to find Lucy. Well. _I_ need to find Lucy._


	13. Chapter 13

Once Max's tirade was over, Amy and Janet ran towards the kitchen. There were two doors in this area, and Amy had no idea which one Lucy had gone through. She sent Janet down the hall, and she ran out a side door and across an alleyway to another building. There were huge paper rolls filling a large warehouse. There were gaps between the rolls creating aisles throughout the large room. Lucy was making her way through the aisles trying to find her way out while avoiding any entanglements with federal agents.

Without being able to climb on top of the rolls of paper, Amy decided the only way to search was to start running through the aisles. She took off at a good clip, running down one aisle, then up the next. She was about to round a corner to run down another aisle, when she slammed right into someone, dropping her gun to the ground "Oh god I am so sorry!" She heard the sentiment repeated, and recognized the voice. "Lucy." Lucy stood up and said, "Oh shit! Amy? You're a...Are you a Deb?"

"Yeah. And you're Lucy Diamond." Lucy half smiled at Amy and nodded. "Well, this is...ah, interesting."

"Ms. Diamond, I think we have some things we need to discuss." They couldn't help but to smile at each other. "Agent Bradshaw, we definitely do. However, this may not be the best time."

"Agreed. But I do have one question." Lucy put her arms out, palms up, then crossed them. "Alright, shoot." "What does a reclusive criminal mastermind want with a Russian trained killer?" Lucy had a little trouble making eye contact with Amy. "Eh...I'm not that reclusive..." Lucy trailed off. Amy tilted her head slightly to the side, picking up on her reluctance to answer. She raised her eyebrows. "That's not really an answer." At that moment, Lucy was very aware of the fact that Amy had a gun in her hand. "I was...on a stupid blind date." Amy couldn't help but to laugh. "With that Russian girl? You know, this really torpedos my thesis." Now it was Lucy's turn to laugh. "Your thesis?"

"Yeah, I'm writing a term paper on you. But it's hard because there's only anecdotal evidence about you. I mean, no one's ever spoken to you..." "Until now," Lucy chuckled. Amy half smiled. "I'm so gonna ace this paper."

"Amy! Where are you?" Lucy rolled her eyes and turned to Amy. "Janet," Amy said, with more than a bit of disappointment in her voice. She turned towards Lucy. "You have the right to remain silent..." Lucy looked into Amy's eyes and saw the gleam of playfulness there. "You're reading me my rights? You know, you could just let me go." "...anything you say can and will be used against you." Lucy smirked. "You know, I could use you against me..." Amy blushed. Lucy pulled Amy into her arms. She touched her forehead to Amy's. Amy closed her eyes and just breathed Lucy in. She smiled and said, "See you soon Agent Bradshaw."

Lucy released her just as she heard the approaching footsteps of what could only be Amy's fellow Debs. She opened her eyes and Lucy was nowhere to be found. But hundreds of sparkling diamonds were on the ground all around her.

* * *

Scud sat looking at his computer screen, holding back laughter and failing miserably. Lucy had gotten 153 responses to her online dating profile in the short amount of time it had been posted. _There must be a lot of people preparing for the Zombie Apocalypse._

Most responses sounded insane. Some sounded too sane, but those were the craziest. Some sounded completely ready to move in, without having met Lucy. Scud ignored those messages and looked for the ones who seemed intelligent enough to get the joke. Sadly, that narrowed the list down to two. Only two. He opened the first message.

"Dear Lucy Alice Parks,

My name is Kelly. I saw your profile and it made me laugh. But you can never be too prepared! Ha ha ha. I don't know which, if any of your profile is actually real, but I'm always looking to meet interesting people who I may find a connection with. Hope to hear from you soon!"

Ok. Somewhat bland, but she could be fine. Scud checked the photo on Kelly's file. She looked alright. She was a red-headed girl, 28, from the area. Promising. He double clicked the next message.

"Hi Lucy! Gina here. I study martial arts as well, keeps me fit for my other...extra-curricular activities. I liked your Resident Evil references, so I checked out your profile, plus you are hot too, which always helps! I attached some photos of me. If you'd like to get together sometime and get in some 'exercise' message me back!"

_Not so bad. She got my Resident Evil references._ Scud clicked on the attached photos and his jaw dropped to the floor. _Woah. _Scud had had online profiles before, and he even managed to get a few hits on his page. However, he had never _ever_ gotten naked pics. Especially not having even asked for any. Lucy got four of them from one girl. He reminded himself to go back through the other 151 responses later to look for more pictures. He clicked through these one at a time, turning his head to different angles. Scud knew Gina was a no. Lucy wouldn't go on this date if she knew about these pictures. She liked the chase too much. This girl was throwing herself at a joke profile. So she was out. He deleted the pictures. Then took them out of the trash again and moved them to another folder. _Can't let them go to waste, can I?_

He set up a meet between Lucy and Kelly. Two nights from tonight at The Dirty Martini. Second date set up! Hopefully he would get some more hits on her profile before he had to set up a third date.  
Scud wondered how his second date would go. He was just hoping he wouldn't get hit again. He considered that a successful date. He emailed Zeda, thanking her for the info about Ninotchka and let her know it didn't work out. "Know anyone else Z? I have a bet going with Lucy," he added in at the end of his email. "I'm sure you remember how the last bet I had with her ended up. I can use all the help I can get." He sent the email off and thought of that last bet. He wasn't sure he could ever live it down. The thought of cotton candy or vaseline still made him cringe.

* * *

Janet looked at her computer screen and giggled nervously. She had finally remembered to log on and delete her profile. There were 3 messages in her inbox and she decided to look through them and then scrap the whole thing. The first two messages were potential disasters, but the third caught her attention. The subject line said, "Wanted: Foosball Rematch." She opened it up and read the message from Scud. She couldn't stop herself from smiling. _It would just figure that I would meet a nice guy and he would be the top henchman of a notorious supervillan._ She looked around making sure no one was watching and wrote him back. She told herself that having an email conversation with an evil henchman wasn't really all that bad.


	14. Chapter 14

Janet closed her laptop and decided to head down to the living room and watch some tv. She passed Max in the hallway. "So Max! In all the excitement today I never got to ask you...how did your date go?" She gave Max a big smile. Max's eyes opened wide, then narrowed in anger. "It didn't. And I don't ever want to hear you mention it again." Max then turned and stormed off to her room muttering to herself. All Janet caught was "mutant."

Shrugging, Janet continued to make her way to the living room. As she turned the corner she was met by a smoke cloud. "Ugh. Dominique will you stop smoking in the common areas? Some of my sweaters are starting to get all smoky!" Dominique actually half smiled at Janet's remark. "Febreeze" was her only response. Janet huffed, and decided to get some air and headed outside instead.

* * *

Amy was having trouble sleeping. She lay awake in her bed, tossing and turning, wrapped up in her covers. Her Lucy was Lucy Diamond. _I wonder what the odds were on that one._ Amy sighed and closed her eyes. She rolled on to her side and thought about how _right _it felt when Lucy had held her. How could something feel exciting and comforting while giving her goosebumps and...no denying it anymore...making her hot all at the same time? She turned onto her back and stared up at the ceiling, expelling a large breath. Every time she closed her eyes to try and sleep again, she saw Lucy. There was a part of her brain nagging her about wanting to see Lucy at all now that she knew who she was. She was having trouble reconciling _that_ part of her brain with what the rest of her seemed to want. Somewhere in the middle of the argument she was having with herself, she finally fell asleep.

* * *

Lucy sat in her evil lair talking to Scud with a slightly apologetic look on her face. Scud looked at her like she had three heads. "Amy Bradshaw. Blonde hair. Plaid skirt? She's a Deb! Ok, not only is she _a_ Deb, she is _the _Deb. She is the Perfect Score. Amy Bradshaw is the only person _ever_ to get a perfect score on the secret test in the S.A.T. Perfect Score means Perfect Spy. She is their pride and joy. She is literally their poster child." "Yes, well, their poster child is in to me. And what's more, I'm into her. Scud, she's..." Lucy trailed off, thinking of how to sum her up. "She's everything _she _wasn't. She's everything _she _could never be." Scud was about to open his mouth to protest, but his brain finished processing what Lucy had just said. Lucy _never_ talked about _her. _The last henchman who mentioned her name Lucy shot in the foot. He shook his head and shrugged. "I hope you know what you're doing." He tilted his head slightly and look at her. "Just do me a favor. Promise me you'll go on the other two blind dates."

Lucy sighed. "I'll go, we still have a bet. I'm looking forward to you losing. You can't even imagine what I have planned for you this time. Do you remember how long it took to get that stuff out of your hair the last bet you lost?" Lucy snorted a laugh. Scud frowned and said, "Forget my hair. It was in my ears. Ugh, disgusting." Lucy smiled. "C'mon Scud. I need to talk to her."

Scud raised an eyebrow. "You gonna do what? Knock on the Debs front door?" Lucy scoffed at him. "Hey, you know I'm known around the world as a pretty decent thief, right? I'm sure I won't have any trouble getting inside." Scud nodded. "I can't wait to tell Zeda about this one. Breaking into the Debs Top Squad housing. Unbelievable"

Lucy playfully punched Scud in the shoulder. "You are the one who wanted to get me dating again. Now you are stuck in this with me." Scud rubbed his shoulder as me made an 'Ow!' face. He nodded. "I should really know by now that you never do anything the easy way." She shrugged. "Where's the fun in that?"

* * *

Max sat watching tv, flipping channel after channel. Dominique always wondered how Max knew when she had a boy upstairs with her. Max looked up at the ceiling. She assumed Dom thought she was being quiet. Maybe that was quiet for Dom. Max really didn't want to know. She finally flipped to a channel and The Maltese Falcon was on. She turned up the volume before tossing the remote on the couch next to her.

Janet was still outside, enjoying the fresh air. She was still thinking about what she was going to do about Scud. He complimented her sweater and seemed upset that it was ruined! You can't let a man like that go. She leaned against a tree and sighed.

* * *

Scud pulled the Skymobile onto a side street and shut off the engine. Lucy opened the door and got out of the car. She stalked around the corner to the Deb house. She flipped open her cellphone and used the nifty locator device Scud had installed to find Amy. Lucy made her way through the Debs joke of a plaid forcefield with ease. She leapt gracefully over the lawn sensors and leaned against the wall of the house. _Piece of cake. _She looked up towards the window that should lead to Amy's room. Climbing was her favorite part. Her suction cup climbers made a ridiculous suction-y noise that Scud always harassed her about. Lucy loved that noise and wouldn't let him upgrade her to completely silent (and boring) suction climbers.

Lucy silently lifted Amy's window and climbed through. She stopped short and held a breath when she saw Amy sleeping peacefully. _She's beautiful. _She let her eyes run down Amy's body. Blond hair, gorgeous face, flawless skin. Her eyes stopped when they came to the exposed section of Amy's midriff. Lucy tried to stop the flood of thoughts, mostly dirty, that ran though her brain. She moved in towards Amy and shook her shoulder gently. "Amy," she whispered. Lucy should have realized that surprising a highly trained spy awake was dangerous. Amy opened her eyes and flipped Lucy up and over the bed where she landed in a thud on the floor on the other side, with Amy following. Amy landed on top of Lucy, knees on either side of her waist.

Lucy let out a surprised, "Jesus!" Amy paused and exclaimed, "Lucy! What are...?" Amy then realized Lucy was in her bedroom and she was currently straddling her, and had pinned Lucy's arms over her head. Lucy had already realized this, and was trying not to pay too much attention to the warm rush running through her body. Amy squirmed, her body reacting before her mind could follow. Lucy gasped. Amy stopped moving and could feel a blush creeping over her entire body. "Uh, hey," she lowered her voice so any of the other Debs wouldn't be able to hear, should they have heard any of the thudding. A slow embarrassed smile spread across her face. Lucy returned the greeting with a "Hey," of her own.

Looking at her predicament, and the fact that Amy hadn't moved, it was Lucy's turn to squirm a bit. Amy noticed she still hadn't moved when Lucy shifted beneath her, and then came to the realization she didn't really want to yet. Acting on pure impulse and a growing need, Amy leaned forward and brushed her lips against Lucy's, lightly at first, with more pressure after a few moments. _Her lips are so soft._ Suddenly, Amy leaned back and stood up. She felt completely embarrassed. Lucy stood as well, still thinking about the sweet and timid kiss they had just shared. She took Amy's hand and hit her with a full wattage smile. Amy couldn't help but smile back. "Come out with me."

Amy thought about it. She cocked her head to the side. "Well, I _do _have a thesis to write about you, and I _do _have questions." She shared a secret smile with Lucy. "But you _are _a criminal. I can't come out with you of my own free will." Lucy snickered. "Well, Deb, this is your unlucky day." Lucy grabbed a crossbow she saw sitting on Amy's desk. She looked at it somewhat confused. "A crossbow?" She shrugged and pointed it at Amy. "Well, now you _have _to come out with me." Amy bit her lip, instantly drawing Lucy's attention to them. Lucy felt her face flush slightly. Amy put her hands up in an "I surrender" gesture and walked to her bedroom door. She opened it and peeked around. The hallway was empty. They headed out of the house with no issues.

Amy was walking down the front path, pulling on a light jacket, when Lucy heard a noise behind her. She whipped around and shot two bolts from the crossbow. _Wow, that's really accurate. I want one of these! _Janet knew her sweater had just been the victim of a vicious crime, and she was pissed. Amy walked back over to Janet, surprised she was outside. "I don't know who that guy is, but he ruined my sweater!" She wiggled out of the sweater, now stuck to the tree and walked toward Lucy. "I don't know who you think you are...aaah!" Lucy and Amy rolled their eyes at each other. Amy sighed. _I guess she's coming._


	15. Chapter 15

Lucy began driving. She had no destination, she figured she and Amy would play it by ear. Amy asked, "Where are we going?" "Where do you want to go?" Amy considered for a second, quickly looked in the rearview mirror. Janet yelled out, "Home!" Lucy glanced over at Amy, and Amy grabbed her hand and lightly motioned her head forward. Lucy smiled and realized that was all the encouragement she needed. _Alright, Junkpit it is._

Scud smiled at Janet and said, "Did you go to Dalton?" She surpressed a small giggle. He whispered, "You're a Deb?" She nodded. "You've been emailing me the last few days and you knew who I was?" She nodded again and shared a small smile with him. "So...rematch?" She grinned at him this time. "You are so gonna lose."

* * *

The Maltese Falcon ended, and an infomercial started playing on the TV, selling some kind of headlight restorer. Max was about to change the channel, then realized she could probably use this stuff for her truck. She got sucked in and tossed the remote back on the couch cushion next to her. She once again looked up at the ceiling. She couldn't remember the last time Dom skipped a night. She sighed and focused once again on the television.

* * *

After a few minutes of driving through seemingly endless tunnels, past dead end signs and other warnings, Lucy glanced over at Amy and gave her a look full of mischief. Amy looked from Lucy to the wall they were doomed to hit. Janet and Amy yelled at the same time, and stopped, confused, as Lucy drove through a holographic wall. They soon rolled into the parking lot of the Junkpit. Amy murmured to Lucy, "A little warning next time would be nice." Lucy rolled her eyes. "That takes all the fun out of it." Lucy opened her door and winked at Amy. "C'mon." Scud slid out of the car, following Lucy. Amy looked back at Janet after they left. Janet shrugged. "I don't know about you Amy, but I have to pee. I know I have no idea how to get back through those tunnels. Looks like we are stuck here for a bit." Janet exited the car and began walking quickly toward the bar. She spun around and gave Amy a meaningful, "Let's go, I gotta go!" look. Amy smiled to herself and got out of the Skymobile. She followed Janet into the Junkpit, where she saw Scud get Lucy's attention and point them out. Lucy gave Amy a sexy smoldering look and Amy found herself rooted to the spot, unable to look away. Lucy walked up to her and grabbed her by the sleeve. She grabbed two beers off of the tray of a passing waitress and lead them to her favorite booth.

Amy was surprised that everyone already sitting in the booth just got up and left as Lucy approached it. She shot Lucy a look and raised her eyebrows. "I guess being a bad-ass has it's privileges." Lucy nodded. "If it didn't, it certainly wouldn't be as much fun." They slid into the booth, sitting a comfortable distance from each other, knees touching under the table.

* * *

Scud smiled at Janet. "Do you want a drink or something?" Janet shook her head. "Just your money on the foosball table..." Scud's smile got impossibly wider and he laughed. "You really let me win?"

Janet rubbed her thumb and forefinger together. "Money talks. Guess you won't know til you put some down." Scud's smile fell a little bit, as Janet's grew. She nudged his arm with her shoulder. She was teasing him. Scud put on his best Edward G. Robinson, "You're good kid, but as long as I'm around you'll always be second best..." Janet got excited at his reference. "I love love love The Cincinnati Kid!" Scud and Janet began chatting away while playing a somewhat distracted game of foosball. Scud won the first game but didn't hound Janet about it, which got him an appreciative smile, and a great look at her pretty ballerina legs as she turned to flag down a waitress. "What can I get for the winner?" Scud eyed her suspiciously. "You brought money with you? You're in your pajamas." Janet blushed furiously. "Well, it's not exactly _my _money, but that guy is so drunk he will just think he spent it on his tab." She waved her hand in the direction of a very drunk man passed out in a booth. _I think I've found the woman I'm going to marry. _Scud snickered. "A Deb, huh?"

* * *

Lucy looked sideways at Amy. "So, how long you been a Deb?" Amy rolled her eyes dramatically and lightly chuckled. "What I'm not allowed to ask questions? I know there's gotta be a shitload of questions you're just dying to ask me." Lucy turned her head and signaled the waitress. Amy raised her eyebrows, grinned evilly, and muttered to herself, "Not the only thing I'm dying to do." Lucy turned back with a questioning look. "Hmm?" Amy recovered well. "I guess my central hypothesis is that, as a woman, operating in a male dominated field, you felt a need to...overcompensate by being exponentially more ruthless and diabolical than your established male counterparts." Lucy blinked at her. "You think I'm ruthless and diabolical?" She gave Amy a full on pout. Amy giggled. "Well, not when you make that face." An easy laughter passed between them. "Please continue." Amy looked into Lucy's eyes, wanting to gauge Lucy's reaction to the next part of her hypothesis. "I think that these psychological forces combine to create a kind of emotional void, in which you are incapable of loving, or being loved." Lucy looked shocked. "That is so not true! I'm open to love, I am!" Amy took Lucy's hand and began rubbing soothing circles with her thumb on the back of her hand. "I'm sorry, it's just a theory...one I was really starting to hope wasn't true."

Lucy noticed that Amy was suddenly trying to put on a serious face, but wasn't doing a very good job at it. Lucy stared at her, wondering why. Amy started to ask a question. "So...what's up with Ninotchka?" Lucy's eyes opened wider, and she put a hand to her face, tilting her head back and screwing her eyes shut tightly. Amy giggled, unable to keep a straight face anymore. Lucy mumbled something about her being a headcase.

* * *

Janet looked over from the foosball table at Amy and Lucy. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but your friend appears to be hitting on my friend." "You're not wrong." "Yeah, but my friend's not into that." Scud, trying to be polite, bit back a laugh and instead smiled at Janet. He looked back over at Lucy and Amy and said, "Care to make little wager about that?"


	16. Chapter 16

Max woke up with a start. She had dozed off on the couch watching that infomercial about headlight restorer. She glanced at her Debs watch. 1:30am. She tried to stretch out all of her stiff muscles before standing up. She heard banging noises and for the hundreth time that night she looked up at the ceiling. _You've got to be kidding me._

Max trudged slowly up the stairs, thinking she would see if Amy was awake. She had a hard time believing anyone could sleep through the racket Dom was making. She quietly knocked on the door and half opened it. The lights were off, but the hallway light fell right across Amy's bed. Amy wasn't in it. _Weird._ She went over to Janet's room. As much as she had no desire to talk to Janet right now, there wasn't any way she was going to get any sleep. She listened at Janet's door, and looked down to see if any light was coming from under the door. It looked dark. She quietly opened it, only to find another empty room. _Where is everyone? Well everyone besides Dom?_

Max headed back downstairs. She tried both Amy's and Janet's cellphones and comm watches. No response. In fact, she could hear Amy's cellphone ringing from somewhere. She looked at the couch, shook her head, and walked outside to sit on the porch swing, slightly irritated. Max would always be one of those people who was annoyed before she was ever worried.

* * *

Amy and Lucy were laughing in their booth, sipping on their beers and telling stories. Lucy had just finished telling Amy a story about how, when she was 17, she got caught making out with the daughter of a man whose house she had just cleaned out of $1.5 million in jewelry and gold. She had to jump out of the window into the bushes below in only her boyshorts. The girl was nice enough to throw her pants out of the window where they landed on Lucy's head and caused her to run into the wall of the house before making her escape. Amy had shared a story of one of her missions gone awry. Freshman year they had sent in the Freshman Top Squad to observe a FBI stakeout. Except the two FBI agents got hot and heavy in their car, not noticing their target slip out of the building. The Debs followed and arrested the man, and dragged him back to the FBI agents' car. So, they cuffed him, opened the door to the backseat and threw him in before they noticed the two agents back there as well. The two _naked _agents. Amy was still owed favors by the two of them.

The laughing had died down to small giggles when Amy excused herself and got out of the booth. "Hey Luce, where is the ladies room in this place?" Lucy pointed to the far corner of the bar and grinned when Amy turned around. She could see Amy snaking through the dancefloor, slowly making her way to the other side of the place. She was admiring the lithe way Amy moved her body, lifting her arms every now and again to get by, revealing the smooth skin of her toned abs. Lucy's eyebrows raised a bit, just as her eyes glinted with a little lust and a lot of mischief. She slid out of the booth and had a much easier time clearing a path to the bathroom, as everyone moved out of her way.

* * *

Scud and Janet were having their own laughs by the foosball table. Scud asked Janet about Max's blind date. Janet looked confused and asked,"How did you know about that?" Scud pointed at himself. Janet exclaimed, "No!" and then laughed, "No! Wow, I didn't even get to find out anything that happened, just that it was bad." Scud nodded. "It was bad. I was bad. I was so nervous I ended up insulting her before I even realized she was my date." Scud pointed at his fading black eye. Janet looked at it for a moment, thinking. "Right hook?" He nodded. Janet grabbed the collar of his tee shirt and pulled slightly, causing him to bend down towards her. She kissed the bruise under his eye tenderly. "Sorry she did that. She's a bit..." "Crazy?" "Temperamental."

* * *

Amy stood waiting on the (thankfully) short line to the bathroom. The door to one of the two stalls finally opened and Amy entered. She half turned to close and latch the door only to find that Lucy had grabbed the door and quietly slipped in with her. Amy was caught off guard, and then even more so by the look of almost pure lust in Lucy's eyes. "Lu-" The thought was never finished as Lucy wrapped her arms around Amy, pulling her close. Lucy lifted her chin a bit to meet the eyes of the taller blonde. The intensity Amy saw in Lucy's eyes cut off any thoughts beyond what was about to happen. Lucy's hands roamed under the light jacket Amy wore, sliding up and down her tank top. Without realizing it, Amy had taken her bottom lip between her teeth, and she saw Lucy's gaze shift down to look. Amy's entire being was filled with a warmth that started in the pit of her stomach and traveled to all outlying areas of her body. Lucy leaned in to kiss those lips, and Amy immediately followed suit.

Lucy had meant to make it a slow, passionate kiss, that built (hopefully) into something deeper. Upon feeling Amy's warm soft lips on hers, she lost some of her restraint. It was a heady, sexy, open mouthed kiss. Lucy lightly moaned, which in turn, caused Amy to quietly moan as well. Lucy was surprised when she felt Amy's tongue slide into her mouth and slip against her own. Lucy then lightly nibbled on Amy's lower lip. Lucy pulled away slightly and saw a vision of a breathless and flushed Amy. "So that's what that feels like." Amy tilted her head slightly. "What what feels like?" "Biting your bottom lip. No wonder you do it all the time." Amy blushed and Lucy brought her hand up to rest against Amy's cheek. She moved it up to tuck some stray hair out of Amy's face, before moving to Amy's neck to pull her in for another, more chaste, kiss.

Now it was Lucy's turn to blush as Amy's heated gaze fixed on her. "Um...so, I'll just...um...meet you out at the booth?" Amy's eyes darkened a bit more, and Lucy saw a flash of...something in there. It looked a little dangerous. Amy reached up to Lucy's face with both hands and brought them crashing back together again, in a tongue dueling needy kiss, still different from any of the kisses before. Lucy's only thought was _This one is full of surprises._ Amy dropped her hands, and grabbed Lucy's, now peppering Lucy's lips with small cute kisses. Amy smirked at Lucy and said, "Now you can go and meet me out at the booth." She unlocked the door and pushed it open so Lucy could wiggle out. Amy closed the door behind her and latched it again. She then leaned forward so her forehead touched the door and took a few deep breaths to regain her composure. _Woah. I have _never _been kissed like that before. Not even close._

* * *

Lucy returned to her booth, not only at a loss for words, but inner monologue as well. She just took in and released a huge breath, and looked around for Scud. She saw him giggling and laughing with the other Deb. She crinkled up her nose and made a face at giggling Scud. _Guess I'll have to ask him about that the inner monologue is back!_ Lucy looked up at the crowd on the dancefloor and saw Amy heading towards her, a shy smile on her face. Lucy couldn't help but smile back. They returned to the comfortable and easy banter they had shared in the Before. That's how Amy now thought of it. The Before was everything that happened before the bathroom interlude. On her way back from the ladies room Amy had wondered if anything would be different. She was relieved to know that The After seemed just as good, if not better. Lucy took a sip of her beer and caught herself staring at Amy's bottom lip again. She leaned in to claim it as her own again, and Amy, sensing this, moved in to meet her. "Oh my god." Lucy and Amy both stopped and turned their heads towards the owner of this voice. "She almost kissed you. You almost let her!" Scud walked up behind Janet. He leaned his head in towards her ear and whispered to her,"You owe me $50 bucks." She turned to him and winked. "You know I'll just win it back from you." She turned back to Amy. "Can we talk for a second?" She then turned around and walked back to the foosball table. Amy and Lucy shared a quick glance and rolled their eyes at each other and shared a quiet laugh.

Amy got up and walked over to Janet. "What just happened?" "Nothing happened." _Because you came over and interrupted. "_She was totally going to kiss you. You are so into her!" Amy took a moment and looked over at the booth where Scud and Lucy were talking. She looked a moment longer at Scud. Then she turned back to Janet. "And just what is it that you are doing over here with Scud?" "Nothing, not that it's any of your business." Janet turned a bright shade of red and could no longer look Amy in the eye. Then she smirked and giggled and said, "At least he's a guy." Amy felt the tension that had slowly been building up in her die down. She eyed Janet. "You really like him, don't you?" She nodded. Amy sighed. "Guess we are stuck in this one together." Amy turned and headed back to the booth. Janet followed her. Amy looked at Lucy with a tinge of sadness. "Take me home?" Lucy looked between Janet and Amy and pieced together that things were ok. Lucy stood, took Amy's left hand in her right and intertwined their fingers. She sighed and nodded at Amy.


	17. Chapter 17

The drive back to the Debs house was a quiet one, broken only by whispering and a low chuckle or two from the back seat. Lucy drove holding the steering wheel with one hand as the other was busy being held by Amy. They sat in comfortable silence, both marveling at the fact that they were able to share it. Amy and Bobby had never shared a single comfortable silence, mainly due to Bobby's inability to _be _silent. It had been a while since Lucy had felt relaxed enough around a woman to let her guard down enough to be comfortably silent. Amy was still feeling a bit timid since showing her assertive side in the bathroom stall. She peeked over at Lucy driving and marveled at the night they had shared together. It went from shooting at each other to making out in a bathroom stall. She looked down at their hands and blushed. Still, she thought it was one of the best nights she had ever had.

Janet yawned a noisy yawn from the backseat, and Lucy saw Scud slide his arm along the top of the leather upholstery and let his hand flop onto Janet's shoulder. She lifter her head slightly to look at him, and rested her head against his arm. Lucy smiled to herself. _Maybe I _can_ get out of these blind dates._ They reached a spot about a quarter mile away from the Debs house. Lucy turned off the engine but didn't move, not wanting to break the physical contact she was still sharing with Amy. Janet sleepily asked, "Are we there yet?" as she lifted her head from Scud's arm. Amy blew out a breath, and detangled her hand from Lucy's. She already missed the contact. Amy opened her door, and climbed out. Lucy also exited the car and walked around to Amy. Janet began to push the front seat forward to get out herself, but Scud touched her on the shoulder and made a signal to her to stay put and give them a minute.

Amy leaned against the front fender, legs stretched out in front of her, bringing her to eye level with Lucy. She was pouting, a full on, protruding lip, puppy dog eyes pout. Lucy traced Amy's pouty lip with her thumb, then caressed her cheek. Then Amy did the one thing she knew could do to push Lucy's buttons...she slowly pulled her bottom lip in between her teeth. Immediately, Lucy's eyes were drawn there. _Like a moth to a flame._ Amy couldn't help but smile, causing her teeth to let her lip go. It didn't matter, Lucy was hooked. Lucy leaned in towards Amy, placing a hand on to the car on either side of her, and took her lips in a sweet and tender kiss. Amy threw her arms around Lucy's neck and pulled her closer. They broke the kiss and stood there, foreheads pressed together, both somewhat breathless.

Janet and Scud finally got out of the car, and to Amy's trained eye, they too seemed a bit out of breath. _I'm gonna have to ask Janet about that later. _Amy caught Janet's attention and raised her eyebrow, questioningly. Janet blushed and looked away, starting her walk towards the house. Amy giggled and gave Lucy a peck on the cheek before heading off after Janet.

Scud looked at Lucy, and they both turned to watch the girls walk away. Scud put his hands behind his back and bumped Lucy with his shoulder. "I see you aren't going to have much luck paying attention to your date tomorrow. I have a feeling your mind is gonna be on that one." He motioned down the street. "It's too bad, Kelly is pretty and seems kinda cool." Lucy rolled her eyes. "Then you date her, Scud." Scud smiled. "Ah, so now you are willing to share all the rest of the women!" Lucy groaned. "I still have to find you more dates. You sure you don't want to call this off before you get your ass kicked by another woman?" Scud looked at her with disbelief. Then his face broke out in a big smile and he began shadowboxing. "Bring her on!"

* * *

Amy and Janet turned up the walk to the Debs house. They both passed through the force field with a small flash of plaid around them. They walked in silence, each thinking about the night they had. Janet was feeling lucky that she ended up outside. Then she noticed her sweater still stuck to the tree with a crossbow bolt. She was about to walk over to the tree to retrieve it, but Max popped up from the porch swing and began her verbal assault.

"Where have you been?" Max glared at them and crossed her arms. Amy was unsure if Max was worried or angry. They were often the same emotion when it came to Max. "Um I couldn't sleep so I-I...took a walk. I was really upset...about...Bobby." Janet nodded. "Yeah, Bobby." Max raised an eyebrow at Amy. "Did he call you _again_? That boy doesn't know when to quit. If you want me to, I'll go tell him to stuff it." Amy couldn't stop the giggles that followed the image of Max kicking Bobby's ass. Max smiled at her and chuckled a bit.

"You know, I can't stop thinking about Lucy Diamond." Janet's jaw almost fell to the floor. "You too?" It took all of the strength Amy had within her to remain stoic. She could kick Janet for that one. She just furrowed her brow and nodded at everything Max was saying. "Yeah, I feel like she's playing some sick game of cat-and-mouse with us. I don't know. Hey, but you guys be careful, ok?" Amy was still standing and nodding at what Max was saying. Max's sincerity was the only thing keeping her from breaking out into giggles again. Max said goodnight and headed back into the house. Janet, noticing her sweater again, huffed and pulled it down from the tree. Amy could hear her mumble something about _another one, _and she would swear she had said,"steal another one" but that didn't seem right. Amy shrugged and headed into the house. She needed at least some sleep before school tomorrow, and it was going to be hard enough with all the thoughts of Lucy she knew were going to be invading her dreams.


	18. Chapter 18

The top squad rolled to a stop into their reserved parking space at Jameson University. All Amy could think about was seeing Lucy again. She wasn't thinking at all about the fact that she was the only person to face Lucy Diamond and live. In fact, it hadn't crossed her mind since Dominique mentioned it last night. She was completely thrown by all of the attention when she walked into the main building. "Oh my god! Is it true? Did you really fight Lucy Diamond?"

_It's gonna be a long day, _Amy thought, fidgeting with her backpack.

"We heard you cut off a hand. Does she still have a hand?"

_Well, that one is interesting. I'll have to remember to tell Lucy about that one. Why would I ever cut off someone's hand? _"Yes, she still has both of her hands." _Thank goodness. I still haven't seen what she can do with them yet. _That thought caused a slight blush to creep up from her neck.

Amy ducked out of that conversation, running into Janet. "Everybody's talking about it." "About what?" "How you met Lucy Diamond and lived to tell about it. They're calling you a hero. When really, you're a slut. A _gay _slut." Janet smirked and snickered a little. Amy rolled her eyes at Janet. "Shut up. I'm not gay." _Am I?_ "Ms. Petrie wants to see you!" Janet turned and walked away. "What? Janet!" Amy followed Janet into a nearby classroom, where she stopped short when she saw the board broadcasting her picture and Lucy's picture. Amy let her eyes linger on the grainy photo of Lucy for a few seconds before the image changed and "Diamond Engagement, Amy and Lucy Get Together" was printed on the screen. That was enough to cause Amy to hold her breath a little bit. She briefly glanced over at Janet, who also seemed a bit surprised. When the image changed again to "Amy Lives: Amy Survives the Encounter" she let go of the breath, and heard Janet do the same. Amy gave Janet a sideways glance. She must be convinced Amy would sell her out if she got caught. She shook her head. Janet had known Amy for almost four years now, and it surprised Amy that Janet would think she would ever follow through with any half hearted threats she may have made.

Amy walked over to Max and Dom, who both looked ecstatic about the fact that Ms. Petrie was coming down to meet with the Top Squad. "What's going on?" Dom was about as full of excitement as Amy had ever seen her. "Madame Petrie!" Amy looked between Dom and Max. "She's coming down!" Max was just as excited. "Here?! Why? She never comes here." Amy wanted to disappear. She wouldn't trade the time she had spent with Lucy for anything, but she could live without this attention.

Before she could sneak out of the room and find someplace to hide until this all died down, she felt a breeze against her back and heard the sound of the Debs rapid transport. With a grimace, Amy spun around only to see Mr. Phipps, Ms. Petrie, her assistant Madeline, and a photographer with a ridiculously old camera. Amy stared at the camera as Max walked over to Ms. Petrie only to be rudely brushed past by the head of the Debs. Max looked rather pissed off and hurt at the same time. Amy's eyes flicked over to Petrie as she realized she was heading in her direction. It took her a moment to realize she was awkwardly posing for pictures. She couldn't help but look quizzically at the antiquated camera. _They can teleport wherever they want but they can't get a digital camera?_ Petrie had sat her down at a desk, and Amy almost missed the fact that Ms. Petrie still didn't know her name. _I'm the only Perfect Score in Debs history, my face is plastered on every poster in this place, and I've 'fought' Lucy Diamond and lived, and _still _she can't remember my name? _Amy wondered, and not for the first time, what she was doing here at Jameson. Ms. Petrie was talking to her though, and Amy needed to get focused. Something about other agencies being jealous and putting the Academy on the map. "Now, Alice," "Amy." "Amy. We are going to need a description of the encounter."

Amy couldn't help but raise her eyebrows and panic just a little bit. "The encounter?" "Everything that happened. No matter how small or seemingly irrelevant." "Why?" Amy was getting slightly flustered. "To develop a profile, of course! Nobody has ever been this close to Lucy Diamond before!" Amy was positive she wanted to get closer to Lucy Diamond. She quietly thanked herself for not saying that out loud. "You, for all intents and purposes, are our leading expert!" Amy thought Lucy would be quite amused by this conversation. "Oh, I don't think I'm an expert at all." She tried to get up and get away from this conversation, but Petrie put a hand on her shoulder and sat her back down. Ms. Petrie then preceded to quote Amy's thesis. Amy looked away from Ms. Petrie and caught Janet's eye. Amy rolled her eyes at Janet. Janet just gave her a "you got yourself into this" look.

Ms. Petrie sat back down in front of Amy. "Annie...Amy. You identify with Lucy Diamond. I think she sees your pathos. I think you have some...dangerous Jungian symbiosis. What's the movie? With Jodie and the little dog falls in the well and the lotion?" "Silence of the Lambs," Madeline pipes in. "You're the lamb, Amy." Amy was getting so agitated, she didn't think she could take much more of this. Amy had mostly stopped paying attention, until she heard Ms. Petrie say that she was putting her in charge of the investigation. _Oh, no. This is ridiculous. _Amy glanced over at Max. She looked pale and very, very angry. "You are hereby promoted to squad captain." Amy blanched and tuned out the rest of the conversation. She could only look at Max and shake her head apologetically. Everything had happened so fast.

Ms. Petrie and company transported out of the room, and Amy was left to face Max, who stormed out of the room. Dominique and Janet were as surprised as Amy was. She followed Max out of the room. "Max! I didn't mean for any of this to happen. I swear to god. I don't even want to be captain!" That was when Amy realized she hit a nerve. "That's just it! You don't even want it! Boys fall at your feet, the whole school kisses your ass and Ms. Petrie makes _you_ squad captain. You'd be just as happy drawing in your stupid little book." Amy looked at her. "Yeah Max, I would. But every time I try to talk to you about it, you change the subject or you put me down. Just because this is what you want, doesn't mean it's what I do." Amy was yelling now. "I'm the Perfect Score. What does that even mean? I constantly try and live up to what other people think I'm supposed to be. You, this school, Bobby...I'm tired of it. I quit!"

Amy spun on her heel and stalked off, heading toward the main exit doors. She was in luck, the free campus bus had just pulled up at the stop. Amy ran to get on and sat down. Blood was pumping hard through her veins and she was breathing slightly heavy. _What now? _She had no idea. She pulled out her cellphone and called Lucy.

"Hey." Amy didn't really know what to say. "Um, hello? Amy?" "Sorry, hey. Um. Are you busy right now?" "Not too busy for you." Amy could almost hear the grin on Lucy's face, and Lucy's voice had the calming effect Amy needed right now. "Can you pick me up? Lemme figure out that the next stop is." "Stop?" "Eh, yeah I'm on a bus. Don't ask." Amy looked at the route and gave Lucy an address 3 blocks from the stop.

* * *

Max's jaw dropped to her chest. She couldn't even put together a reaction until Amy was already outside, and by the time she had taken two steps, Amy was on the bus and gone. She walked back to the classroom where Dom and Janet were talking. "Amy just quit." The both turned to look at her, Dom with eyebrows raised, Janet accusingly. "What did you do?" Max whipped her head to face Janet. "What did I do? I didn't do anything!" Max recalled the conversation she had with Amy, and lowered her head. "I guess I wasn't a very good friend." She shrugged. "I don't know if it would have made any difference." Dom looked around. "Where is she?" Max shrugged. "She got on the campus shuttle." Janet put a tentative arm on Max's shoulder. "I'm sure this will all settle down." Max nodded, but she wasn't so sure. Janet said, "Maybe we should head back to the house. She might be there." Dom nodded. The three of them headed to the car.

* * *

_Well this is looking like it's gonna be a good day! _Lucy drove the Skymobile towards the intersection Amy had given her, wondering about the impromptu call, but not minding at all. Truth is, Lucy had been wondering when she was going to get to see her again, and even though she had a blind date later that day, she really didn't care. Lucy slowed as she neared the intersection, and pulled up at the curb, not exactly knowing where Amy would be. It certainly didn't take Lucy long to find her. Amy was standing near the door of a small grocery in all her Debs glory. Lucy actually gasped and took Amy in. Black shoes, white knee highs, ridiculously impractical short plaid skirt, short sleeved white button up, a tad too short, showing glimpses of Amy's midriff when she moved her arms, cute plaid tie. _Oh. My. God. I could get used to seeing her in _that! Amy saw her pull up, looked around her scanning the street, and decided she wasn't being watched. She walked quickly over to the Skymobile and got in the passenger seat. Lucy could see the somewhat distressed look on Amy's face, and decided to try and lighten the mood. "You know, picking up a Catholic school girl hitchhiker has always been a fantasy of mine." Amy raised an eyebrow at Lucy and let out a shaky laugh. Lucy smiled, put the car in drive and pulled away from the curb.

Once they had driven a few blocks and Lucy determined no one was tailing them, she looked hard at Amy. She hadn't said a word since getting in the car. Lucy pulled over into an empty parking lot. She took Amy's hand. Amy looked over at Lucy gratefully and squeezed her hand. "I certainly wasn't expecting to see you in this," Lucy commented, playing with the hem of Amy's skirt. "I wasn't either. I needed to get out of there." Amy sighed shakily. Lucy tugged on her hand, and Amy looked at her. "I...I quit today. At first I thought it was funny. They wanted me to profile you." Amy smiled. "You know, seeing as how I'm the only one to ever fight you...and live." Lucy smirked. "Yeah, you ruined my streak of killing everyone I've ever met." Amy shook her head and gave Lucy a wry smile. "But Petrie made me squad captain and put me in charge of your case." Amy's smile faded. "Max was...livid. Partly because I was made captain. But mostly because she knew I didn't want it. Never wanted it. She said something about 'boys falling at my feet, the school kissing my ass, and Petrie making me captain.' At that moment, it really hit me. She was right. I don't want any of that. But she knew that before this happened. She just never listened." Amy put her head down and swallowed a lump she hadn't realized had formed.

Lucy reached out and began rubbing Amy's back. "You don't have to decide anything right now. You know you can probably go back if you want. You know Max is your friend, but she is a little psycho." Amy raised her head and smiled at that. Her stormy blue eyes locked with Lucy's soft brown eyes. "I do have one question though." Amy raised an eyebrow slightly and motioned for Lucy to continue. "Boys fall at your feet?" Amy giggled and nodded. "Oh yeah, all the time." Lucy frowned. Amy grabbed the back of Lucy's neck and pulled her into a slow, deep kiss. Amy eventually pulled back and winked at Lucy. "The Bad-Ass Master Criminal a little jealous of some _boys_?" Lucy responded with her trademark megawatt smile. "Not if you keep kissing me like that."

Amy grew serious and looked at Lucy. "I know you have your date tonight or whatever, but..." Lucy half smiled at Amy, and Amy saw the gears turning behind Lucy's eyes. Amy raised one eyebrow quizzically. Lucy put the car into drive and pulled out of the parking lot. "You are more than welcome to stay. And as for my date...well, just so my night isn't a total loss...why don't you come? I have this uncanny ability to get food poisoning when I have a bad date...might be very interesting to watch!"


	19. Chapter 19

Max was moping. It was more than Janet could handle. She worked up the courage to talk to Max. Janet tiptoed from her bedroom, down the stairs and into the living room, where Max was staring blankly at the television. Janet sat at the other end of the couch. Max didn't move. "Max." No reaction. "This isn't your fault, Max. She's a grown woman and she makes her own decisions." Max turned her head to look at Janet. "She was right though. I never listened to her." Janet was surprised she was talking. "She not dead, Max, you can make it up to her." Max sighed. "I've never been good at this friend thing, you know?" She shrugged. "Friends fight sometimes. You guys will be fine." "But will our squad be fine?"

* * *

Amy was still wearing her Debs outfit and stuck out like a sore thumb in Lucy's Evil Lair. She'd gotten quite of few double takes, and one henchman spit his coffee out all over another henchman. Lucy laughed for about ten minutes. When she could finally breathe again, Lucy told Amy it was time to ditch the plaid. So Lucy and Amy were now going through all of Lucy's clothing, picking out an outfit for Amy and an outfit for Lucy to wear on her date.

"How do I look?" Amy had slipped on a pair of dark brown leather pants and a tight white tank top. A slow smile spread across Lucy's lips. The only word that her brain formed was "Hot!" Amy put on a sultry smile and sauntered over to Lucy. She ran a hand down Lucy's arm and twined their fingers together. She leaned in and breathed in Lucy's ear, "How hot?" Amy felt Lucy shudder slightly and when she pulled back she saw quite a passionate storm brewing in Lucy's eyes. Lucy snaked her arm around Amy's waist and pulled her in close. "Amazingly hot. However, we are supposed to be getting me ready for a _date._ The direction this is moving, I'll never make it to said date." "Maybe that's my plan." Amy leaned in and peppered hot kisses down Lucy's neck. Lucy quietly moaned, but stepped back from Amy. She grinned. "Stay tonight?" Amy smiled back and nodded. "Yeah." Lucy's smile gained some wattage. "Good. Now help me pick out my outfit. And trust me, knowing Scud, this date should go very, _very_ wrong. Without him even meaning it. You'll have a night packed with entertainment." Amy laughed and turned to look in Lucy's closet again. She picked out a tight pair of low rise black slacks and a tight fitting black shirt with a low cut back. "Put this on." She tossed the outfit to Lucy. Lucy smirked at Amy, then removed the jeans she was wearing. Amy drew a sharp breath and stared. Lucy bent to step into the black slacks and looked behind her at Amy, whose eyes were still glued to Lucy's pinstriped black boyshorts. She wiggled it and laughed. This broke Amy's daze and got her laughing and blushing. Lucy winked at her and stood, fastening her pants. She gave Amy some small sweet kisses, then pulled off her shirt and changed into the one Amy picked out for her. "Better?" "You look amazing." Lucy grabbed her hand and pulled her out of the room.

* * *

Scud looked from Lucy to Amy and back to Lucy. "You're joking, right? You are gonna bring your...girlfriend? To your date?" Lucy looked at Amy. "Wanna be? My girlfriend I mean?" Amy smiled. "Ok." Scud spluttered. "Great now it's official. You are bringing your girlfriend to your blind date. This is retarded." Lucy looked at Scud and laughed. "There were never any rules put in place about this. Besides, I already told Amy, if it's love at first sight, I'll put my fingers to the side of my nose like this..." Lucy made a V with her first and second fingers and put one on either side, "and pinch, and Amy will just leave us lovebirds alone. It's a perfect plan, really." Scud put his hand over his eyes. "You know, I'm terrified of what you have in store for _me_. And that thought is almost enough to call this off...but I am _not_ going to lose this bet. You know I still can't tolerate..." Lucy cut him off. "Vaseline or cotton candy?" She began laughing, then ruffled his hair. "At least your hair grew back nicely." Amy had been watching the entire exchange between the two of them with a smile on her face. "You guys are too cute." Scud and Lucy both froze, exchanged glances with each other, then turned to Amy with horrified looks on their faces. "You think we are..._cute_? I will have you know you are in the presence of a top henchman and a master criminal. We are not _cute. _We are evil and menacing." They high fived. Amy giggled. "Um, no, you are cute. But I won't spill your secret. Even under threat of interrogation."

* * *

"Well, you are cute. A big, cute, cuddly teddy bear henchman." Janet smiled into the phone. "Thanks for calling. We had no idea where Amy went. Well, I had an idea." Scud sighed. "What's wrong?" "Well, I'm worried. I know Lucy has been having trouble finding me blind dates, and I was really starting to think I was going to win the bet this time. Now I'm not so sure. I think she's teamed up with Amy." "Oh, I don't know if you have anything to worry about. Amy's pretty awful when it comes to dating. She went on a date once with a guy who picked his nose all through dinner. And another guy who brought his mother with them to a movie." Janet heard a high pitched whining noise on the phone. "Scud?" "Ha! Sorry, I was laughing so hard I couldn't breathe. Well I guess I feel better. Anyway, Lucy's date tonight sounds great, even if she is gonna just find a way to get out of it." "Where'd you find her?" "Online. Heh, I made her a fantastic profile!" Janet frowned. "I had a sweater ruined the night of my last blind date. Hopefully she doesn't have my luck." Scud grinned. "That's the night I met you isn't it? I think you had a horrible black smudge on your pink cardigan." Janet paused, and blushed. _He remembered my sweater?_ "Yeah. That was the same night. I-I can't believe you...you are so sweet!" Scud sighed again. "Now I've been called cute and sweet in the same day."

* * *

Lucy and Amy pulled into the half filled parking lot of the Dirty Martini. Lucy breathed a heavy sigh and looked over at Amy. Amy grinned. "I am so looking forward to watching you on a blind date...again." She snickered lightly. "Hopefully no guns are involved this time." Amy, still laughing, said, "I'll do some recon for you. Always remember to look up." Lucy joined her. "Yeah, not too brilliant of an idea. This place only has ten foot ceilings." Lucy leaned in and gave Amy a quick kiss. "No more kisses now, I'm about to go on a date." Amy pouted. "Don't pout! But make sure to follow me into the bathroom..." Lucy trailed off and winked at Amy. The memory of the bathroom at the Junkpit was enough to make her blush. Lucy squeezed her hand and released it, and got out of the Skymobile. Amy rolled her eyes, and followed Lucy's lead into the bar. Lucy headed to the bar and sat down, while Amy took a quick look around the place, noting all of the exits, potential spots for cover, if necessary, and anything that could be used as a weapon. They had come armed, but neither had brought spare rounds. Amy grabbed a table with a perfect view of Lucy.

A waitress came over with a Stella Artois, "from the brunette at the bar'" which Amy gratefully took, sketched a small caricature on a napkin, and asked the waitress to bring that back to the girl who bought her a drink. Amy giggled. The waitress gave the napkin to Lucy, and walked away. Lucy unfolded it, to see a mostly accurate but quickly done sketch of Lucy, with her fingers placed exactly how she said they would be if her blind date turned out to be love at first sight. Lucy barked out a laugh, then quieted. She took a sip of her own Stella and contemplated whether or not this picture on the napkin was a message for her, or just a little joke. _Was Amy trying to tell me something? Love at first sight? Hmm._ She glanced up at Amy, who was giving her a shy smile. Then she saw Amy's eyes change to a wary look, and something of a warning. Lucy felt a small tap on her shoulder. She whipped around on her barstool and surprised the man trying to get her attention. The man in a dress, with a full beard, and inhumanly hairy legs. "Ah, can I help you with something?" "Are you Lucy?" She eyed him up and down, biting back a giggle. She nodded. "You...Are you Kelly?" Kelly nodded. "Yes! So nice to meet you!" "Eh, likewise! Can I get you a drink?" "I'd love a cosmo." "Yea, that was my guess actually." Lucy ordered with the bartender.

"So...you do know I'm gay right? As in, I like women, right?" Kelly nodded at Lucy. "It did say you were looking for women on your profile. So I came dressed as one!" Kelly took a large sip of his cosmo and grabbed a large fistful of bar peanuts. Lucy chanced a quick glance at Amy. She was currently wiping laughter tears from her eyes. Amy made eye contact, and Lucy made the love at first sight gesture, then a shooing motion. Amy broke out into fresh laughter.

"Well, see, I'm thinking this isn't going to work. I like women. Not men dressed as women. That would still be a man." Lucy was nodding at him, willing him to understand and hopefully to just leave. "It's because I didn't shave isn't it? You know, I told my mother I really should have shaved for this date..." Lucy cut him off. She noticed that Amy had moved a few tables closer, most likely so she could hear this winning conversation. "No, it's not about shaving or not shaving." Lucy couldn't help but to laugh a little as she was talking. "It's about actually being a woman." She glanced around the bar, then stopped when she found a set of smiling blue eyes. "Like her for instance." Lucy motioned towards Amy. Amy looked around the bar comically, then pointed at herself in a silent 'Me?' gesture. Lucy nodded. She got up and walked toward Lucy and Kelly. "Um, hi. Can I help you with something?" Lucy smiled an evil smile. "Yeah I think you can." She grabbed Amy's waist and pulled her close, tilting her head slightly and meeting Amy's lips with her own. Lucy pulled away, slightly lightheaded, and Amy looked dazed. Lucy turned to face Kelly who was looking a bit thrown. Lucy pointed at Amy. "Kissing a woman." She then grabbed Kelly by the beard and gave him a kiss. He tried to deepen it, but she pulled away. "Kissing a man. Every time! Yeah, sorry, just doesn't do it for me." Kelly frowned, downed the rest of his cosmo, and walked out of the bar.

Lucy and Amy looked at each other. Lucy rolled her eyes, while Amy raised both eyebrows. They simultaneously burst into giggles. Amy calmed down first, looking seriously at Lucy. "I'll sit and share fries with you, if you promise not to get food poisoning." Lucy snorted laughter. Amy raised her eyebrows again. "Was that a snort? Do bad-ass master criminals really snort laughter? Ah, that's sooo cute!" Lucy ordered a basket of fries from the bartender, and they sat together at the bar. Lucy unfolded the napkin picture. "This is really good. Funny, but good." Amy smiled. "But, I couldn't help but wonder. Was this like a...message?" Amy blushed, from the roots of her hair down to her neck. "Because, you know, it's possible that it might be true-ish." Amy put her finger over Lucy's lips, stilling them. Amy just shook her head. "There may be a time for this conversation, but sitting at a bar at your failed blind date is not it. Just enjoy the moment." Amy smiled and replaced her finger with her lips.


	20. Chapter 20

On the car ride back to the Evil Lair, Amy leaned her head back onto the headrest, turned her head towards Lucy, and grinned. "So, I get to go back to your place...this is sooo much better than being treated to a feigned food poisoning show." "I guess you are one of the lucky hundreds." Amy picked her head up and stared at Lucy. "Did you say hundreds? That's...I mean...um...wow." She blushed and looked down at her hands in her lap. Lucy shook with silent laughter. "Oh yeah. I'm quite the womanizer. Really. Sometimes it's disgusting." Lucy glanced again at Amy and decided to take pity on her. "It's not true, you know. I've got a reputation to uphold. My public persona is a bit of a slut. But that couldn't be further from the truth. Why do you think Scud and I have this bet going?" Lucy laughed. "The real truth is that I could probably have anyone I wanted, woman or man. Power tends to open those doors for you. I'm just not really into meaningless relationships. They leave me feeling...empty." Amy turned up the corners of her mouth, and Lucy furrowed her brows. Amy looked like she was holding back laughter. "What?" "You know what this means, right?" Lucy raised her brows slightly and looked at Amy questioningly. She shook her head, still confused as to what was so funny. "My thesis was right!" Amy began giggling. Lucy rolled her eyes.

* * *

Max put down her cellphone. She had just calmed her ego down enough and worked up the nerve to call Amy. She didn't pick up, so Max had steeled herself again and left a message. _That might have been the hardest thing I've ever done._ She sighed. Apologizing was never one of her strong suits. She walked up to Amy's room and looked around. Blue plaid curtains, blue walls, a few Deb trophies on shelves on the wall. Looking at the room, Max was struck by one fact. It didn't have an ounce of Amy. Without Amy in it, it could be anyone's room. You walked into Janet's room, you knew it was Janet's room. Dominique's room always smelled like sex. Max knew her own room was littered with dirty gun rags, gun oil, and firearm magazines. Max's forehead crinkled and she pondered, looking around once again. _Amy is an artist. Why doesn't her room say that? _There wasn't a single painting, sketch, or sculpture. Max sighed. The pieces all seemed to be there, but Amy was the one who usually put them together. She was good at what she did. She did well in all of her classes, she was on the top squad. She was the Perfect Score. What more could she want or need?

* * *

Scud was scouring the internet and checking his email every two minutes. He was still trying to find Lucy's third date. Earlier in the afternoon he actually went to a lesbian bar and tried to find a woman willing to speak to him. Somehow, all he managed to accomplish was getting himself a date with some woman's gay roommate. Scud sighed. He was glad he had given Thompson's name and phone number. That smug foosball jerk needed to be knocked down a peg anyway. He wasn't having much luck. At the same time, he was almost happy. He was guessing that Lucy was having at least as hard of a time finding him dates. She'd only gotten him one so far, and wow, that was an awful date. Maybe this was his bet to win. He tabled his search, and instead decided to think of what awful deed he could have Lucy do when she loses this bet.

* * *

Amy was laying on Lucy's bed, still dressed in her leather pants and tank top. Lucy was sitting in a big leather armchair. "I really need to find Scud another date. Know any single girls?" Amy laughed. "You want him to date some Debs?" Lucy rolled her eyes. "Point taken. Although, I could be nice and set him up on a date with Janet." Amy gave Lucy a look of disbelief. "He did just send you on a date with a cross dressing man. The last thing _I_ would be is nice." Lucy's eyebrows flew up. "Maybe I'll let you find his next date." A look of pure and total evil crossed Amy's face. Lucy grinned. "Mischief looks good on you." Amy smiled and patted the bed next to her. Lucy's eyes darkened a few shades. She kicked her shoes off and jumped up out of the chair. She walked over and flopped on her bed next to Amy. "Well, you got me, now what are you gonna do with me?" She looked up into Amy's eyes. The Perfect Score had a Perfect Storm brewing behind those blue eyes. Lucy caught a bit on indecision there as well. She decided she would tread lightly and follow Amy's lead.

Amy rolled onto her side, facing Lucy, who was lying on her back. She was running her fingertips up and down Lucy's arm. "I wanted to thank you for everything today." "Thank me? Heh, I took you on a date...that I had with someone else." Amy giggled. "It certainly took my mind off of everything. But I really mean thank you for being there. For coming to pick me up. I really didn't have anywhere else to go." Lucy reached up, stroked Amy's cheek and tucked some stray hair behind her ear. "It was my pleasure. I'm glad you called. And I'm really happy you're here. Can I ask you a question though?" Amy nodded, now tracing circles into Lucy palm with her finger. It was enough to make it hard for Lucy to concentrate. "If you had had someplace else to go..." Amy once again silenced Lucy with a finger to her lips. "I would have called you first." Lucy kissed Amy's finger, and Amy slipped her hand up into Lucy's hair. Lucy pulled Amy toward her and Amy moved her leg so it came to a rest comfortably between Lucy's, the front of her body nestled perfectly against Lucy's side. Their lips met in an eyes closed, slow, soft, sweet kiss. Amy turned her head and shifted her body, deepening the kiss as she was now half lying on Lucy, hands on either side of Lucy's shoulders. Lucy slid her hands up Amy's sides, earning a half moan, half giggle from Amy. _Ticklish. I'll have to file that away for future reference._ She moved her hands around to Amy's back and under the hem of the tank top feeling the warm soft skin underneath. She pulled Amy closer to her, and slightly bent her leg, thigh coming into contact with Amy in a spot that evoked a somewhat loud moan from her. A moan which made Lucy's head swim when she heard it. A moan that made Lucy realize she needed to slow this down a bit. She lowered her leg back to the bed and pulled out of the kiss, completely breathless. She raised herself up on one elbow, and in one quick move she had reversed their positions.

Lucy looked down into Amy's flushed face. The intensity in her eyes was almost literally driving Lucy crazy. Lucy had been telling herself that she needed to slow this down for Amy, but she was starting to believe she needed to slow this down for herself. She didn't think she was ready yet and she needed to be sure. Somehow, Amy saw some of this in Lucy's face. She gave Lucy a kiss on her nose. "Do you have something I can wear to bed?" The look on Lucy's face was a cross between shock and adoration. "Y-Yeah. Yes I do, I'll just go grab some things. One sec." She got up off of the bed and headed for her dresser. She grabbed 2 pairs of silk boxers, an A-shirt, and a cotton v-neck. She smiled and tossed Amy's on the bed. She turned around and pulled her top off, slipping her A-shirt over her head. Amy smiled and flushed again, but admired Lucy's toned and smooth back. Lucy then unfastened and pulled her pants off, and slipped her boxers on.

Amy stood up and also turned around, pulling the tank top over her head and pulling the v-neck on. Lucy had missed Amy putting the t-shirt on, but she finished changing just as Amy unbuttoned the leather pants. She began pulling the pants off, then realized the major issue with wearing leather pants. They look great, but they are a bitch to get off. She turned to look at Lucy in a bit of a panic. She laughed nervously. "Um, Luce? I'm having some trouble." Now it was Lucy's turn to panic. She swallowed hard. Then she grinned like a cheshire cat. "Need me to help you get out of your pants? I'm your woman! Lie down on the bed." Amy sat on the bed, and laid back. She felt Lucy's hands slip under her v-neck, and she could tell Lucy was enjoying herself. She slid her hands across Amy's smooth, tight stomach and she felt Amy's muscles contract under her hands. Then Lucy did something neither of them expected. As her hands moved to unbutton and unzip Amy's pants, she leaned forward and kissed right above the waistband of the leather pants, from one hip to the other. Amy started moaning about two kisses into the impromptu journey, and had plunged her hands into Lucy's hair right before the point Lucy made it to her bellybutton. Then in one swift motion, Lucy was able to hook her thumbs into two beltloops and free Amy from the pants. Which left a very worked up and half naked Amy burning holes through Lucy, with a kid got caught with a hand in the cookie jar look on her face. "Um. All better!" Lucy handed the boxers to Amy, a deep blush creeping it's way up her neck. She walked around to the other side of the bed and settled in under the covers. Amy had to take a minute to compose herself again. _She turned my brain to mush._ She too settled into the bed. "Are you gonna come over here and snuggle with me or am I coming over there?" Lucy pondered this for a moment, then turned to her left and grabbed Amy around the waist pulling her close. "I get to be the big spoon!"


	21. Chapter 21

Amy woke up slowly, not wanting to wake up from the incredibly erotic dream she was having. When she finally opened her eyes, she realized the object of this dream was sleeping right next to her. She smiled sleepily and moved in closer to snuggle. Lucy mumbled something in her sleep and turned around, her back now facing Amy. _My turn to be the big spoon._ She wrapped her body around Lucy's tucking her arm around Lucy's waist. "Mmmm. Whazzat?" Lucy began stirring from sleep. She rolled around again, and her sleepy brown eyes found twinkling blue ones. Amy gave Lucy a light kiss on the nose, and Lucy smiled. "Morning. Is it morning?" Amy nodded. "Barely though. It's 6 am." "Criminal bosses sleep in." Amy grinned at her, closed her eyes and drifted back to sleep.

At about 10:30 Lucy opened her eyes, feeling warm and safe. There was an arm draped over her stomach and a leg thrown over her own legs. Amy was still asleep. She leaned in and gave her a soft kiss. Amy's eyes flew open in surprise, then closed again and kissed Lucy back briefly. "Um. Morning breath." They got out of bed, Amy walking in to Lucy's bathroom. Lucy ran over to Scud's area. He wasn't around, so she ducked into his bathroom. It was a good thing he was a bit obessive compulsive. He had about 20 extra toothbrushes. She grabbed one for Amy and headed back to the other side of the lair.

After freshening up, Amy stretched and yawned. Lucy said, "Coffee?" Amy nodded. "Do you happen to have soy milk?" Lucy crinkled her nose, but nodded. "Tommy, one of my guys, keeps some in my fridge. He's lactose intolerant." Amy raised her eyebrows. "No one ever thinks about the bad guys being lactose intolerant." Lucy laughed. "You don't know the half of it. Chuck has diabetes and Petey is on a low sodium diet. They are trying to convince me to get them health insurance. I keep trying to tell them just because I am their boss, it doesn't mean that I am a company complete with vacation time and health insurance."

They left Lucy's room and ventured out to the kitchen area. They found Scud wearing a "Kiss the Cook" apron, making breakfast sausage, eggs, and toast. "Oh great, guess I'm gonna have to cook up some more. So Luce, how did your date with Kelly go?" Lucy had just taken a sip of her coffee and choked on it. Chuckling, Amy patted her back. Scud gave Amy a curious glance. "She didn't feign food poisoning again, did she?" Amy shook her head. "Wait until she recovers. I'll let her tell this story." Scud turned and look expectantly at Lucy. She recovered and asked him a question. "Scud, where did you find this...girl?" "I created an online profile for you. Why?" Lucy rolled her eyes. "She was a he." Scud's eyes flew wide open. "Wha- oh. Hahahahaha! That's priceless!" "A he dressed in women's clothing." Scud fell to the ground, laughing. "Jus..just...just stop! I can't take anymore!" He scrambled up from the floor. "Sorry, Luce." She threw a kitchen towel at him. "You are not!" He shrugged, and turned to make them breakfast. "No sausage for me!" Amy piped in. Lucy giggled, and Scud turned around to look at her. He grinned. "I could have guessed that. Amy doesn't like the sausage!" She blushed. "Um. That is not what I meant!" They all looked at each other and laughed.

* * *

After breakfast, Amy was studying a large globe Lucy had in the Lair. "So what's this Australia thing about? We learned about your attempt to destroy it, but...why?" Amy spun the globe and pointed at the large X over Australia. Lucy made a disgusted noise and rolled her eyes when Amy looked her way. "I've told Scud a thousand times that I don't like their attitude. While that's true, there are a million little things about Australia that annoy the shit out of me." Amy laughed. "You tried to erase a country from the planet because they bug you?" "Yes. The accent kills me, they are far too laid back, and...well..." Amy raised an expectant eyebrow. "It's the only country I've actually been arrested in." "Really?" Lucy grinned. "Yeah. I was 17. I was on vacation. So, to relax of course, I robbed a jewelry store. What's funny is I got away with that, but I got popped for underage drinking and public drunkenness. Which probably wouldn't be enough to make me want to sink a country, but after I was released, I went back to my hotel room only to find out that I'd been robbed of my take. The nerve of those people." Amy giggled. "Still not really enough to sink a country, Luce." "I don't like dingos?" Amy shook her head.

"So, I have an idea about a date for Scud." Lucy's eyes flew up to meet Amy's. "Seriously? I was starting to think I was gonna lose this bet!" "When I was a junior in high school, we were paired up for an art project. My partner was a girl named Peggy. She was...scary. She liked to sketch roadkill. Our project was interesting, to say the least. Anyway, she's moved back to L.A. And I hear she goes by the name Demonira." Lucy lost control and laughed until her stomach hurt. In between breaths, she said, "She sounds perfect! Do you talk to her? I mean is this something we can set up?" Amy tilted her head and thought. "I'm pretty sure my old friend Sam somewhat still talks to her. I think we can make this happen."

"What were you like in high school?" Amy was somewhat surprised by the question. "Oh! I...well, I was..." Amy shrugged. "I was me, then." Lucy furrowed her brows in confusion. "I wasn't always a spy. Sometimes I wonder how I even got to that point." Amy stopped and thought about the sequence of events that led to her becoming a Deb. "One Saturday morning, I went in and took my S.A.T. Twenty minutes after I had finished the test, I was talking to some of my friends at the Dunkin Donuts around the corner, and Sam noticed this man a few feet away, watching us. It was a little creepy. On Monday morning, she told me she could swear she saw him drive by my house when she was waiting to pick me up. So, then this mysterious man shows up at my high school and hands me this letter, which is like 'Congratulations, you've just been accepted into Jameson University.' And I'm like, 'Uh, I didn't apply to Jameson University.' It was just...weird." Lucy nodded. "The government is freaky that way."

"So what does it measure? The secret test in the S.A.T.?" Amy rubbed her neck. "I don't know." Lucy glanced at Amy. "So...you never asked?" "No, it...measures spy stuff." Lucy gave Amy a patronizing look. "What?" "It's just...It's weird that you let this test decide what you're gonna be, you don't even know what it is." "It doesn't decide what I'm gonna be, it's an aptitude test. It...measures aptitude, I guess." Amy was getting slightly agitated. Lucy rolled her eyes. "O-kay..." "You should do what you're good at." Lucy laughed. "No, you should do what you love." Amy flashed a little bit of anger. "I _am _doing what I love. Or was. Why are you psychoanalyzing me?" Lucy realized she had hit a nerve. "I'm _not _psychoanalyzing you!" "I mean, just because I'm not some bad ass master criminal doesn't mean that what I do isn't important." Lucy backed off a little bit. "I didn't say it wasn't important." "I mean, do you love a life of crime?" Lucy raised an eyebrow. "Yeah. I do." "So you get a kick out of taking money from hardworking, honest people?" Lucy narrowed her eyes and looked into Amy's eyes. "What is your problem?" "I don't think you should be judging me!" Amy was exasperated. "I'm not judging you! I'm not the one that got picked out of a bajillion people to be Miss Super Duper Crime Fighting Goodie Two Shoes" Amy looked away feeling slightly embarrassed. "I've never been perfect at anything," Lucy said. Amy looked down at the floor. Lucy sighed and walked over towards Amy. "Look, I didn't want to be a criminal. I wanted to be a pirate." Amy giggled. "Pirates are criminals." Lucy looked genuinely surprised. _And incredibly cute._ "Oops." Amy took Lucy's hand and gave it a squeeze. "I wanted to go to art school." Lucy smiled. "Art school?" Amy nodded. "In Barcelona." Lucy smiled. "You should go, you should do it." Amy looked away again. "Maybe." She gave Lucy a half smile. "After I make the world safe from people like you." Lucy looked away and then kissed Amy's hand still interlaced with hers.

Amy heaved a big sigh. "I don't know what the test saw in me. Everybody thinks I am gonna make the perfect spy. Except me. I guess I'm proving them all wrong now." "You quit. It's not the end of the world. If you want to go back, you can. After all, I'm still out there making the world a terrible place." Amy laughed. "You make my world pretty wonderful." Lucy blushed. Amy shook her head. "I can't even imagine how mad Max would be if she knew I was here with you." Lucy looked at her, slightly hurt. "Is that what you're doing with me? Sabotaging your spy career and pissing off Max?" Amy had a witty retort, but looking up at Lucy's face, she changed her mind. "I'm here because I feel more like me when I'm with you, then I do...when I'm with me." Lucy could have grabbed her, kissed her and never let her go at that moment. "Look, let's just...forget we're here. Ok? And-and let's just pretend we're in Barcelona, and you're in art school, and I'm renting sailboats to tourists. Nobody's a superhero, and nobody's a villian. We're just us." She looked at Amy, at that moment really hoping they could do just that. Amy was looking into Lucy's eyes with more than a touch of adoration. She leaned in and gave Lucy the sweetest, most perfect kiss Lucy could remember ever getting.

Amy stood and took Lucy's hand. Lucy looked at her with her head tilted to the side. "Where we going?" The look Amy gave Lucy was all the answer she needed. It was full of passion and intensity. As Lucy looked into those bright eyes she also saw the look that was quickly becoming Lucy's favorite Amy expression. Mischief. Lucy stood and followed Amy back into her bedroom. Amy sat on the bed, pulling Lucy with her, and halfway on top of her. She wrapped her arms around Lucy, who amiably complied, bringing her lips down to meet Amy's, lightly nipping Amy's lower lip. She could feel Amy smiling. Amy reached her hand around, slipping it under Lucy's shirt. Amy had a hand fiddling with the hooks of Lucy's bra. She thought she had it. Instead she..."Ah, I'm so sorry!" "Ow! Did you just snap my bra?" Amy vehemently shook her head. "Yeah, you did! That hasn't happened to me since the sixth grade!" Lucy leaned over and purposely snapped Amy's bra. "Ow! You are so dead!" Amy grabbed Lucy and flipped her over to the other side of her on the bed. The spent the next few minutes wrestling on the bed and laughing. Lucy had gained some control and straddled Amy, who was still struggling under her. "Say it!" Lucy was tickling Amy, attempting to get her to say, "Mercy!" Amy, however, would not. "No!" "Come on!" "No!" Lucy grabbed one of Amy's wrists, then the other. "Do you give?" Amy was laughing. "No!" Lucy was grinning. She effectively pinned Amy to the bed. She smiled, looming over Amy. The mood suddenly quieted, but certainly didn't lose any intensity. Lucy was lost in Amy's eyes, watching a new storm begin to brew in them, while Amy also quieted, intensely aware of the feel of Lucy's body on her. Lucy studied Amy's eyes, half smiled and asked her, "You love me?" While Amy hadn't been expecting it, it seemed like the most natural thing to ask in that moment, and Amy was peering into Lucy's eyes just as intensely. With barely a hesitation, Amy whispered, "Yes." They both smiled with the realization of what had just happened. Lucy felt an immediate need for a kiss, so she came down and took it.


	22. Chapter 22

Lucy opened one eye, feeling the warmth of the sun on her face. She realized her entire body ached and she groaned. She tried to stretch, but found that someone warm, sexy, and hidden by a mane of blonde hair was impeding the process. She couldn't help the smile that first twitched up the corners of her mouth and spread into a full on face aching grin. She looked around the room and took note of the clothing strewn about, and the sheets that were no longer neatly tucked in. Lucy tried to disentangle herself from Amy without waking her and had almost achieved it when she noticed too late her ankles were twisted in the sheet and Lucy fell onto the floor. She stared up at the ceiling, slightly dazed and couldn't help but giggle. She heard Amy shift on the bed and saw her angel's face appear into view framed by her blond locks. Amy smirked at her, and let her gaze trace every inch of Lucy's naked body sprawled on the floor. She raised an eyebrow and met Lucy's eyes. "Um...I do this every morning." Now it was Amy's turn to laugh. "Ah. And exactly what is it you do every morning? Fall off of the bed? Laugh at the ceiling? Or wake up next to a stunningly beautiful former spy?" Lucy's brows furrowed. "Hmm. Ok, well none of those things. But I certainly wouldn't mind doing one of those every morning." Amy looked as if she was pondering for a moment. "You know, falling off of the bed every morning is bound to cause a fair share of bruises on that perfect body of yours." She winked at Lucy as she rose from the bed and began collecting her garments from about the room. Lucy grinned and was ready with a comeback but got sidetracked watching Amy flit about her bedroom naked.

Amy paused after finding her cellphone which had been buried under a pile of clothes. She turned to Lucy and giggled. Lucy tilted her head to the side, puzzled, and waited for Amy to explain. "Sam!" Now she was completely confused. "Who?" "My friend from high school? She texted me. She got in touch with Peggy, and it so happens she is between...ah..." Amy couldn't speak anymore. She began laughing so hard she was crying. "Betw...betweeeeen...haaaaa...between Minions!" Lucy finally realized what Amy was talking about. "Wait...Demonira calls her boyfriends 'Minions'?" Amy nodded, wiping tears from her cheeks. "Yes. The 'Minions of Satan.' Peggy...Demonira...whatever...has a date with Scud tonight." It was Lucy's turn to laugh. "We really need to be present for this date. Still have that crazy swing thing you Debs use?" Amy nodded. "In my room at the Debs house." Lucy thought those bright blue eyes clouded for a moment as Amy thought about the Debs. "I guess I have to go back and get my things anyway. I have to talk to Max. I can't leave things the way they are." Amy returned her focus to Lucy. "I'll make sure I take that swing with me." She winked at Lucy. "And maybe a pair of handcuffs." She grinned, then noticed she was still standing in the middle of Lucy's room without a stitch of clothing on. Lucy stood up, wrapping the sheet around her as she did so. "I'll go make the coffee, you get in the shower." Amy pouted. "What?" "Make me a smoothie!" Lucy rolled her eyes. "Fine! Spies are so high maintenance!" Amy tossed one of the items of clothing she had in her arms across the room at Lucy. She giggled again and ducked into the bathroom to avoid retaliation.

* * *

Scud let his eyes slip shut for a moment. "Roadkill? Really? She used to sketch roadkill?" Lucy tried her best innocent face. This made him even more nervous. "Does she bite the heads off of bats too? What are you getting me into?" Lucy snickered but shook her head. "It'll just be a nice dinner. Her name is Peggy. Amy went to high school with her. Um, plus I, uh, think it was a requirement for an art class." Lucy coughed loudly to cover up a laugh. Scud was so preoccupied he failed to notice. He sighed and hung his head. "I know I'm going to regret this. What time?" Lucy grinned at him. "8:30. Amy and I will drop you off." Scud looked down at his shirt doubtfully. "He looked up at Lucy and winked. "Think she will like me in pink?" Lucy grinned. "Oh, I'm sure she will love you in anything, Minion." Scud gasped. "Did you just call me a Minion? I like the Henchman title. Sidekick I can live with. But Minion is just...well, it's...it's just...too...Despicable Me." The corners of Lucy's lips turned up and she opened her mouth to say something but he reached his hand out and pinched her lips shut with his fingers. "No, I am not wearing a yellow shirt. Or goggles. Or overalls." He dropped his hand.

* * *

Max tapped the 'End Call' button on her phone. Amy's phone just went straight to voicemail. Max shrugged and wondered where Amy had gone. She knew she hadn't gone home. Amy's parents had called earlier in the day about some lunch or brunch or something. Max hadn't paid that much attention to what Janet had told her. Janet had told them Amy was at class and that she would have her call them back. She was feeling a little cooped up. She left her room and headed downstairs where she saw Dominique reading the paper on the couch. Dom lowered the paper slightly to glance at Max indifferently. Max nodded at her. "Shooting range?" Dominique folded the paper up slowly and placed it on the coffee table. "Oui. I was getting bored." She stood and followed Max outside. Max rolled her eyes and looked at Dom. "Did Janet take the car again?" "Oui. She said somezing about a chandail." Max blinked at her. "A what?" "Eh a sweater! She haz so many already!" Max clicked her tongue against the roof of her mouth. "I _really_ need to shoot something. Let's go." "Allons-y."

They climbed into Max's truck and she took off to the range. After about an hour of shooting, Max pulled her last target forward and gathered all of them up. Dominique did the same. They packed up their gear and headed to the work tables right outside of the firing area to compare. There wasn't much left of any of Max's targets. Dom's targets were still fully formed black figures, with a quarter sized hole through the chest and another quarter sized hole through the center of the head. She hadn't even bothered changing her target. Every single one of Dominique's 100 fired rounds had gone in one of two places. Max's eyes widened at the sight of those two holes. "Remind me not to piss you off," she mumbled. Dom looked at the scraps of paper that were Max's targets. "Same here."

They sat at the work table a cleaned their guns in companionable silence. From time to time they actually enjoyed each other's company, as neither of them were very talkative. After Dom had finished, secured her gun in it's holster and zipped up her extra ammo, she looked at Max. Max's attention was focused on a scuffed spot on her shiny chrome hand cannon. "Max. Do you think Amy is coming back?" At first Max didn't realize Dominique was talking to her. "Huh? Oh." She paused to consider it for the umpteenth time. She shook her head like she did every time she asked herself that question. "I honestly don't know. I always assumed Amy was happy here, and that she loved what she did. But now...well, in the last few days I've noticed a lot of things that I think I'd never let myself notice before. All I can hope is that our argument isn't the reason Amy quit." Dominique had been nodding in agreement most of the time Max had been talking. "I do not think it is ze reason. Something has been going on with Amy, I think she finally found a reason to get ze courage to leave." Just as Max turned to face Dominique to respond, Bobby walked into the shooting range. "Hey girls! Um, just wanted to know if you'd seen my girlfriend around? I think her phone is turned off and I haven't been able to find her." Max rolled her eyes. "Bobby, you can't be serious." "Serious as a heart attack! I can't find her!" Max glance at Dom, who was just scowling at Bobby like she normally does. "Ugh, go away. Imbecile." Bobby stared at Dominique in confusion, then turned his head toward Max. "That's the first time she has ever talked to me. But I don't know French." Max stood and slapped him in the back of the head. "Bobby, leave us alone. Leave Amy alone." Dominique smirked at him and they left the firing range. "I guess that is another reason Amy left," Max sighed. She looked across the truck's cab at Dom. "Thanks Dominique. I needed this." She nodded, and Max put the truck in reverse.


	23. Chapter 23

Janet's attention was focused on her cellphone as she read Scud's last email about his next blind date. Apparently she liked to paint roadkill. _Eew! That's so gross! I wonder what color she paints it? _Janet for the life of her couldn't understand why Scud was going on these dates. She finished typing up a response, told him about the new sweater she bought, and hit the send button. She tossed her cellphone on her bed and sighed. Janet made her way downstairs and heard the front door slam shut. Max and Dominique walked into the living room with duffle bags. They both dropped them onto the floor and sank onto the sofa. "I smell gunpowder. You two go shooting?" Max nodded while Dom mumbled, "oui." Max turned to Janet. "Any news or missions or anything from Phipps? It feels like we haven't gotten out into the field in forever." Janet flipped her ponytail around to the other side of her head. "Well, no one has seen or heard from Lucy Diamond, and major crime seems to have taken a bit of a break..." Janet cut herself off when she heard the front door open and slam shut again. The three agents turned their heads toward the foyer expectantly.

Amy peeked into the living room and saw her three squadmates staring back at her. "Amy!" Janet squealed while jumping up and down and clapping. Max turned from Amy to Janet and gave her a scowl. "Hey, Amy. Good to see you. Um...I've been trying to get a hold of you." Amy nodded at Max. "I know. I wasn't ready to talk. Hey, Janet. Dom." Dominique slightly nodded toward Amy. Max crossed her arms and studied Amy. "Have you come back to graduate?" Amy opened her mouth to respond, then closed it again. She looked hard at Max. "Honestly, Max, I hadn't even thought about that." She sighed. "Maybe I should though. We are graduating next week. Endgame the week after. Seems silly to leave now." Amy looked from Janet to Max to Dominique. "Assuming you'll still have me on the squad." She held her hand up to Max who attempted to cut in. "However," Amy looked pointedly at Max. "I will not be staying after graduation. I quit." Max's eyebrows crinkled above her nose, and she appeared to be making a difficult decision. She looked hard at Janet and Dominique. "Well, what do you guys think?" Apparently finding an answer in each of their faces, Max turned again toward Amy. "Welcome back, Bradshaw." Amy solemnly put her hand out to shake with Max, but Max brushed her hand away and gave her a rare hug. "Your communicator is on the kitchen table. We haven't gotten around to turning it in yet. Your room is how you left it. Finals start Monday, graduation is on Friday." Amy sighed. "Guess I'll be studying this weekend." Max rolled her eyes. "You are going to ace these exams and you know it." Amy grinned. "Yeah, I know."

Amy entered the kitchen and slipped her watch comm onto her wrist. She then headed up to her room, remembering that she needed to grab her surveillance swing. Amy found the swing easily, and stood studying the room she was in. Her room. At least, it used to be her room. It didn't feel like home the way it once did. She grabbed a few changes of clothes, grabbed the swing, her backpack, and two extra ammo clips. She turned to leave the room, and saw Max standing in the doorway. "We need to talk, you know." Amy nodded. "I've realized a few things since you've been gone. For one, I haven't been a very good friend. I...I guess I just got angry and couldn't see things for how they really were. I know you aren't happy here. I think I've known that for a while. I just, I don't know. I saw things how I wanted them to be." Amy was silent for a moment. "What made you realize all of this, finally?" Max thought for a moment. "What really hit me was your room." Amy looked around her room. It was pretty much the same as it had been when she first moved in. "What about it?" Max looked once again at the curtains, the walls, and the trophies. "Without you in it, not a single thing in this room reminds me of you. I know you think I don't listen to you when you talk about art, or your drawings. I do." Max sighed. "I had a plan for my future. You were always in it. My squadmate, my partner." Amy interrupted Max. "I always will be, if you let me, as your best friend. But I can't be a Deb anymore. It was never what I wanted." Max nodded. "There is none of your art in your room. No drawings, sketches, paintings. No big-ass block of marble for you to hack away at with a chisel. You never settled in here because I think you always knew this wasn't for you." Amy smiled at Max and pulled her in for a second rare hug. "Nice to have you back on the squad, soldier. I guess I can let you be squad captain for a week." Amy laughed at that. "I'll make a shit captain and you know it." Max nodded and left the room.

Amy walked out of the room as well and shut the door behind her, which wasn't very easy with the armload of stuff she was carrying, and headed back downstairs. Janet stopped her on the landing. "I'm so glad you're back!" Then she paused and looked at Amy warily. "Um, Scud's date tonight?" Amy raised an eyebrow at Janet. "What about it?" A smile formed on Amy's face. "Janet! Are you jealous?" Amy couldn't help but giggle. Janet turned several shades of red before answering. "I'm not jealous...I'm worried. A roadkill painter?" Amy's giggles turned into all out belly laughter. "She's harmless, Janet. Besides, we will be there watching. I'll keep an eye on Scud for you." Amy could see relief wash over Janet's face. She looked at Amy again. "What color did she paint the roadkill?" Amy's laughter started again. "She didn't paint the actual roadkill! She just sketched pictures of roadkill. Hey, Vincent van Gogh cut off his own ear, consider sketching roadkill on the normal side for artists!" The shocked look on Janet's face was priceless. Amy shook her head smiling and continued back down the stairs, waved goodbye to Dom, and headed back to Lucy's.

* * *

Lucy had been floating around the Evil Lair all day, wondering what she had done so right. She had a great girl who loved her, and who Lucy was starting to realize she loved too. She was somewhat surprised by that. She had made herself promises, vowed to herself to never let a woman get that kind of power over her again. Lucy realized it didn't feel that way with Amy. She felt like she was expanding upon her own life by including Amy in it. She didn't feel trapped, she felt freed. _Weird._ _Being in love is weird._ _Being in love. _She stopped and looked over at Scud, typing away at his keyboard. Once this second date of his was over, maybe she really would be nice and have his third date be with Janet. He probably deserves it. She tilted her head to the side and frowned slightly. _He put on a yellow shirt. I bet he didn't even realize it._ Lucy burst out into peals of laughter and fell to the area rug, holding her stomach. Scud scowled at her from his computer. "What's so funny?" "Yellow, Scud? I thought you weren't going to wear yellow?" He distractedly looked down at himself. "I am not a Minion! I just like this shirt!" He got up and ran to his room to change, Lucy still howling with laughter on the carpet.

* * *

Amy got off the city bus with her things packed into a duffle bag she had found in the Debs hall closet. It was somewhat heavy and she wasn't looking forward to the six block walk to the Evil Lair, but she remembered there was a smoothie place on the way, so she got moving. She made it about a half a block when she heard, "Babe! Hey babe, where you been?" yelled from behind her. She froze, wondering if she should try and hide in the laundromat to her right, or if she should just make a run for it. She decided with the extra weight she was carrying he would outrun her in about a block, and there just aren't many places to hide in a laundromat. She slowly turned around and set her jaw. Her posture was a frosty one, but Bobby didn't notice. He grabbed her in a big bear hug. "I missed you! Did you lose your phone or something? I haven't been able to get a hold of you in days!" Amy just continued to glare at him. "Wanna get a smoothie? I'm not sure if you like them, but someone took me to this smoothie place right up the road." Amy couldn't help but laugh. "Really? Bobby, I'm the one who took you there." She shook her head at him still laughing. "Perfect, babe! Let's go!" Amy sighed in disbelief. "I'm going to say this, one last time. I am not your 'babe'." Bobby moved to put his arm around her. "Playing hard to get, babe? It's ok, I like that." Amy dropped her bag, grabbed his wrist, and twisted his arm behind him, pulling his hand up between his shoulder blades. "Bobby, nothing I have said to you seems to get through that thick skull of yours." She pulled his hand up a bit higher. "Ow!" "We are broken up. If you need to speak to me at all, please call me Amy." She let his wrist go and her grabbed his shoulder. "Ow, babe-I mean, Amy. That hurts!" She rolled her eyes at him. "I can hurt you a lot worse. I gotta go. Bye, Bobby."

Bobby was starting to think Amy was serious about their break up. He assumed he had just pissed her off somehow and she'd come back when she had cooled down. _I guess she still needs more time to calm down. _Bobby shrugged, turned around and walked away.

* * *

Lucy was looking at blueprints of the restaurant/bar where Scud's date was taking place later. It was formerly a warehouse, and looked like it was going for some kind of industrial chic look. Which was fortunate for Amy and Lucy, since the surveillance swing would work perfectly. The large door of the Lair opened and Amy walked in with a heavy looking duffle bag in one hand and a smoothie in the other. "Hey, babe!" Lucy called out, waving. Amy gave her an evil stare. "What did I say?" Amy laughed. "Please, call me honey, sweetie, snuggle bunny, anything...ANYTHING...but babe." She kicked the door shut and walked to where Lucy stood. She dropped the bag onto the floor and sighed heavily. "Uh, so is there a story that goes along with that whole 'babe' thing?" Amy nodded and chuckled to herself. "Not so much a story as a jackass named Bobby." "Ah, the ex, huh?" "Yeah, he kinda overused that particular term of endearment." "Well then snuggle bunny it is!" Lucy smiled at Amy. "Come over here. I got blueprints to the restaurant tonight. Did you bring your swing thing?" Amy nodded. "There's some things we should talk about too." Lucy wrapped an arm around Amy's waist and pulled her into a close embrace. "First things first, snuggle bunny." Lucy silenced Amy's small snicker with a kiss.


	24. Chapter 24

Part 24

Lucy looked up at the ridiculously high ceiling. "I really don't get why a restaurant needs such a high ceiling. How are we supposed to hang this thing?" Lucy turned the surveillance swing over in her hands. Amy shot her a wide grin. "This is the fun part!" She plucked the swing from Lucy's hands, turning it on its side. She flipped down a hidden lever, rotated the edge, and aimed it towards the ceiling. Holding on with both hands, Amy nodded to Lucy, smiled, and whispered, "Hit that green button." Lucy reached her hand out tentatively, unsure of what was going to happen. "AHHHH!" Amy yelled out, and Lucy jumped three feet in the air. She swung her head around to glare at Amy. "What the hell was that?!" Amy was doubled over, holding her stomach and laughing so hard she snorted. Lucy nudged her and she fell to the ground, laughing even harder. "You...you sh-should have seen your face!" Lucy scowled at Amy, but she was trying to hold back a smile. "Funny." She extended a hand and helped Amy to her feet. "Can we get back to this now? Please?" Amy rolled her eyes. "Fine. But that was funny." "Yeah, whatever." Amy turned around and aimed the swing at the ceiling once again. She pressed the green button and a cable shot up and lodged in the ceiling. Lucy whistled. Amy tilted the swing in the opposite direction and fired up once again. "That's so cool!" Amy dropped the surveillance swing and it wobbled slightly, then stilled. Lucy frowned. "Um, it's not going to be of much use down here." She raised one eyebrow at Amy. Amy laughed again. "Go get us some drinks so we can get up in the rafters before the show starts. I'll finish setting this thing up." Lucy frowned. "Um...where exactly will we keep these drinks?"

A few moments later, Amy had quickly and expertly gotten Lucy and herself into position high in the rafters. Lucy's face was a mask of confusion. "I still don't understand how..." She cut herself off and glanced in every direction, finally coming to a stop on her drink in a small holder next to her. Amy giggled. The brunette looked into Amy's mirthful blue eyes and grinned back while shrugging her shoulders. Amy grabbed Lucy's hand and laced their fingers together. "You probably shouldn't think too much about it and kiss me inste..." Amy was interrupted by Janet's voice coming through her Debs wrist communicator. Amy tapped the mute button and looked guiltily over at Lucy. The brunette frowned at the watch and looked up at Amy. "I've been meaning to talk to you about this. I've gone back." She cut herself off as she saw Lucy's eyes fly wide open. "Just to graduate! I mean, graduation is Friday. I'm out after graduation. I've already started getting my portfolio together to apply to art schools." Lucy beamed at her. "I'm so proud of you Amy. You should finish college. But! No trying to arrest me!" Lucy wagged her finger at Amy. The blonde only took her bottom lip between her teeth. Amy pouted, then smirked. "But I kinda wanted you in handcuffs..."

Max was tearing through the house like a four year old on Christmas morning. "Janet! Dominique! Let's go! Has anyone gotten in touch with Amy?" She waited all of half a second for a response. "Get your asses down here!" She heard thudding footsteps barreling down the stairs. "Finally! This is our first real action in...I can't even remember how long, and you two are taking forever! We received information that Lucy Diamond's right hand man, Scud, is going to be meeting some underground scum at Port-au-Pasta." Dominique held her left hand up, stopping Max's tirade. "Eh, Port-au-Pasta? What is it with zee stupid American restaurant names? Ugh." She pulled a cigarette out of a pack she kept tucked in her bra, shaking her head as she placed it between her lips. Max rolled her eyes and glanced over at Janet. Janet hadn't said a word since coming down the stairs, she just kept checking her watch. "Janet." Max waited for a response. "Janet!" She waved her hand in Janet's face. "Huh? What?" Max rolled her eyes and sighed. "Let's get going. Janet, get in touch with Amy, she will have to meet us there." Janet mumbled, "I'm trying," and followed Dominique and Max out to the car.

Scud walked into Port-au-Pasta with as much confidence as he could muster. He felt he was practically strutting. He casually scanned the restaurant, assuming he would be able to pick out Peggy. What a completely harmless sounding name for a roadkill sketcher. There were only a few couples seated in the restaurant, but after spotting who he assumed was Peggy, he didn't think it would have mattered if there were 200 couples in the joint. His eyes grew wide as he took in the sight before him. And he could only see the back of her. Her hair was dyed jet black, with blood red and shocking white splotches dotting her head randomly. It was teased as much as hair could possibly be teased, it towered at least ten inches above her head. She was wearing black, a black...garbage bag as far as Scud could tell. He took a few tentative steps in her direction. A hostess seemingly came out of nowhere. "Welcome! Can I help you?" Scud's head swiveled in the hostess' direction. "I'm meeting a blind date here, actually. Unfortunately, I have a feeling it's her." He nodded in the Trash Queen's direction. She followed the direction of his nod and grinned widely, poorly attempting to hold in laughter. "Oh! Well, does your name happen to be...ah...Minion?" Her face was turning all shades of red trying to maintain her composure. Scud looked down at the floor, closed his eyes for a moment and blew out a breath. He lifted his head back up and opened his eyes. "Yup, that's me. I'll just show myself over there." He stalked off in Peggy's direction, mumbling to himself.

His pace slowed as he approached his date. _You are the god of bingo. You can do this. _He repeated this mantra over in his head. He pulled out the chair across from Peggy. "Hi! I'm Scud. You must be Peggy." She sucked air through her teeth and flashed slightly crazed eyes at Scud. "Demonira! I no longer respond to Peggy." She let her eyes travel over Scud, and winked at him. He felt a shiver run down his spine. "You'll do. Sit. And put this on." There was a large clunk on the table and the look of puzzlement on Scud's face changed to one of confusion, then indignation. "You aren't serious. You _can't_ be serious. Can you?" Lying on the table between them was a large and heavy looking black and red collar with a leash attached. "Oh, I am serious. _Dead_ serious." Scud opened his mouth, but couldn't think of anything to say. He snapped his mouth shut and closed his eyes. He took a deep breath, tilted his head back, opened his eyes and began to laugh at what he saw. Lucy and Amy were seated on a swing, high up near the ceiling of the restaurant. Lucy, upon seeing him notice them, waved from behind her small binoculars. Amy sat next to her with a crazy looking listening device held out in front of her, giggling. Scud sat up straighter and stifled his laughter when he saw the look of pure disgust Peggy was shooting at him. She leaned forward over the table. "Laughing will not be tolerated. Now, put on the collar." Scud's eyes opened wider and he unconsciously backed away further into his chair. "Ah, no. No I don't think I will be putting that on. I uh I don't um…I don't like dogs. Yeah, dogs." He cleared his throat. "In fact, I think you should put it on." He beamed at Peggy. She frowned and looked at the collar. He stood up, looming over her. "I said put it on." She glanced up at him in surprise. "I am the god of bingo," he whispered to her. He raised his gaze up to the rafters, noticing that both Amy and Lucy were laughing so hard they were trying to hold each other up on the swing. He smiled menacingly at Peggy. "Now!" She slightly jumped and picked the collar up from the table.

Scud smirked. He was pleasantly surprised that this was working. However, that didn't mean that he wasn't going to kill Lucy for this. Probably Amy as well. He sighed and sat back down. He turned his attention back to Demonira. He smiled and nodded in her direction. "On!" She cringed and began fidgeting with the collar, trying to unbuckle it. With trembling hands she wrapped it around her neck and fumbled to fasten it. Scud allowed himself a smile of triumph and flashed a quick thumbs up at Amy and Lucy.

Then the shit hit the fan.


	25. Chapter 25

Part 25

Janet was counting in her head, trying to remember all of the positions for the formation they were going to run when they entered Port-au-Pasta. She needed to make sure Scud didn't get caught or injured. She keyed Amy's number into her comm watch for what felt like the hundred thousandth time in the last half hour. This time Amy answered. Janet held a finger to her lips, Amy was laughing like a hyena. She glanced up at Max and Dominique. Max was gesturing wildly at the building, pointing first at the main entrance, then making circles with her arm. Dominique seemed to be listening, but boredom was the only emotion Janet could see on her face. She crept a few feet farther away from the two members of her team.

"It's about time, Amy! Someone tipped off the Debs! We are outside the restaurant where Scud's blind date is taking place!" Janet saw Amy sober up quickly. "Shit! Shit shit shit!" Janet's quirked an eyebrow, then rolled her eyes with a huff. "You're in there aren't you." She tapped her finger on her chin. Then she smacked herself on the forehead. "You're with Lucy. Ah, this can't get any worse. Amy get out of there as quickly as you can. I'll try and stall them out here, but you know how Max is. I hope you are prepared for a bit of a fight." Janet looked around, then quickly jammed her gun in between the seats in the car. "Uh, Max? I can't find my gun. I know I had it when we left the house…"

Max threw her arms up in the air. "Seriously? This cannot be happening right now."

"Luce, we gotta get out of here. We have to get Scud's attention." Lucy frowned. "How do we get down from this thing?" Amy smiled. "See that loop? Put your foot through it. Then grab that other loop, and when you're ready, hit the little yellow button." Lucy smirked. "You know, I'm having a bit of déjà vu." She winked at Amy. "I know how to get his attention!" Lucy looked at the leather band around her wrist. She unbuckled it and aimed for Scud. She tossed it with a small arc and hit him in the temple. "Bullseye! Now let's get the hell out of here!"

"Ow! What the..." Scud looked down at the object that just hit him in the side of the head. He recognized it as Lucy's. He looked up and saw Amy and Lucy gliding silently down from their swing. _What is going on?_ Lucy hit the ground and waved her arms frantically at him. Whatever it is, it can't be good. Scud turned his attention back to Peggy. "Trash Qu…I mean, Demonira, I'm sorry to cut this short, but I really don't think this is going to work out between us. I'm all for a little of the kinky stuff, but to tell the truth, you scare me." Scud tossed money on the table and tied Peggy's leash to his vacated chair. "Ciao, Pegs!" She shot him the scariest look of pure hatred he had ever seen. "Minion! Come back here! Demonira leaves Minions! They do not leave her! This is an outrage!"

The moment she finished shouting, the front door of the restaurant burst open. Max, Dominique, and Janet took positions up in the doorway, guns pointed skyward. Lucy was already most of the way to the fire door in the back of the restaurant with Amy right behind her. Scud was creeping his way to their location, but he was still near the center of the establishment. Amy grabbed Lucy's shirt front and pulled her into a passionate kiss, the excitement of the situation leaving them breathless far quicker than they expected. They smiled at each other before Amy half shoved Lucy out the door. "I'll make sure Scud is ok. I'll call you later!" Lucy slipped away to the Skymobile, starting it up and keeping her eyes out for Scud.

Amy stood up and leaned against the corner of a nearby wall, not wanting to accidentally get shot by any of her squadmates. She quickly took a peek around the corner. She could see Scud, still managing to keep himself hidden, but his progress to the door was far too slow. Demonira was shrieking like a wounded banshee at this point. Amy crept towards Scud, whispered to him to keep going, then half stood when she could see Max. She yelled out to her.

"Max!"

Amy's squadmates all turned in her direction, weapons now at the ready. "Amy, you made it!" "Yeah, I saw the car, so I decided to go around the building and look for a back entrance." Amy waited patiently but nervously for Max to buy her story. "Good job, Amy. See anyone?" Amy shook her head negatively. She locked eyes with Janet and gave a slight nod. Janet sighed with relief. "Ah, so Max…what are we doing here? I never got details." Max frowned while Dominique looked around the restaurant with undisguised disgust on her face, stuyding the décor. "We had intel that Scud was meeting some criminal types here. Max looked over at Peggy, cocked an eyebrow and shook her head. "What is that?" she mouthed at Janet, who she had also caught staring at the strange woman. Janet just put her hand on her hip, shifted her weight, and rolled her eyes.

Max walked over to the table the strange shrieking woman was seated at. "Would you give it a rest already?" She lost interest in the woman when she noticed a bracelet on the table. She picked it up and turned it over in her hands. "Holy shit! This bracelet has L. Diamond burned into the leather! It wasn't a bad tip, we just missed them!" "Bradshaw! Detain this woman! I'll call HQ and fill them in on what happened here. Dominique, secure the perimeter, and look for anything else that might help us find them. Janet…uh, Janet just…help Amy." Janet scoffed at Max as she walked out the front door. She turned back to Amy and whispered, "Did they both make it out of here?" Amy nodded and Janet let out a sigh of relief. She turned cautiously back to Demonira.

Amy sat down at the table with Peggy, untying the leash from the chair. "Uh, Peggy? It's me, Amy Bradshaw. Are you ok?" Peggy stopped screaming and looked up at Amy. "Amy Bradshaw? From senior art Amy Bradshaw?" Amy smiled and nodded. "You're a…cop? Or something? A cop in a plaid skirt?" Amy snorted laughter. "Yup, I am." "Well, that's weird." Amy folded her arms and tilted her head at Peggy. "I'm weird? Peggy, what is…" Amy opened her arms and gestured at Demonira before continuing, "all…this?"

Peggy took a deep breath and stood up. "I am Demonira and I do not have to deal with this!" With that she stormed out of the restaurant, leaving her dog collar behind. Janet stared at it lying on the table. About 30 seconds later Max and Dominique returned. Amy sighed. "She was just some weird lady. Said she found the bracelet a few days ago. I cut her loose." Max lightly tapped herself in the forehead with the barrel of her hand cannon and blew out a long breath. "Let's get out of here, ladies."


	26. Chapter 26

Part 26

"Lucy that was the _worst_ date I've ever been on. I've never been so happy to be interrupted by Debs. What the hell were you thinking?" Lucy raised her brows and turned to look at Scud. "You've set me up with an assassin who thinks she's a dancer, and a man dressed as a woman, Scud. I might also add, I was also interrupted by Debs. Plus at least we slipped out before there was any shooting. Although, I would have loved to watch you try and pull off some of my moves to get out of there in one piece!"

Scud crossed his arms and looked down at his feet. He sighed loudly and dramatically. "Luce, what are we even doing? I mean, neither one of us even wants to go on these dates." He looked up at his friend. He chuckled. "Your girlfriend has been there for both of your blind dates. Don't you think that makes this all kind of pointless? Besides, we have both strayed so far outside of the original point of all this. We've been finding each other the worst dates possible, when I'm pretty sure we've both found the women we really want."

Lucy opened her mouth to respond, and quickly shut it as she processed what Scud had said. "You really like her, don't you?" The corner of his mouth quirked up in a half smile and Lucy noticed how his eyes lit up. He nodded, half smile becoming a full one. He shrugged. "Have you seen her at a foosball table? I mean, I think I was a goner the first time she beat Thompson." Lucy's jaw dropped in surprise. "She beat Thompson? The only person I've ever seen beat Thompson was you." A sly grin made its way onto Lucy's face. "She beat you, didn't she? She totally did!" Scud blushed and he hung his head. "Yup, she did." He grinned sheepishly and shrugged. Lucy considered the situation for a moment. Did they really need to finish this? She herself had no desire to go on another one of these disastrous dates. She'd rather just go out somewhere with Amy. Scud was obviously smitten with Janet, and Lucy didn't even know where she was going to find another date for him anyway.

Lucy took a deep breath. "If you are willing to call this bet a draw, I say we call it off." Scud frowned at her and stroked his chin. "Hold on there, Luce. I dunno about that." He paced across the room, chewing his nails, while Lucy sat and blew out a frustrated breath. He stopped in front of her, a lightbulb seeming to go off in his brain, then he merely shook his head and continued pacing. "Scud, you are making me dizzy. Could you let me in on what you are thinking?"

Amy sat at her desk, studying for her last few finals. Her mind kept drifting, thinking of one Lucy Diamond. She supposed it was only natural, since she was finishing up her thesis. She was having a lot of trouble writing it. She knew she would have to lie, for a few reasons. For one, her central hypothesis was totally torpedoed. Secondly, she couldn't turn in what she actually knew was truth to the Debs. So she slowly began typing, and sped up quickly, smiling to herself. _Just like writing a story!_ Amy knew it really didn't matter what she wrote, being that she was the only Deb to have 'fought Lucy Diamond and lived' she was going to ace this paper no matter what. She put the finishing touches on what she thought to be a thrillingly ridiculous tale, and pulled a textbook out of her desk.

She opened the book and began reviewing the highlighted sections, quickly losing interest. She sighed loudly and slammed the book closed. How was she supposed to concentrate when all of her thoughts returned again and again to a certain dark-haired beauty. Amy spun her chair around, throwing her legs up onto her bed and leaning back in her desk chair. Her eyes flew open in surprise as that same dark haired beauty gracefully entered her bedroom window and dropped to the floor quietly. Lucy popped her head up and peered at Amy. "Um, hey babe. Miss me?" She stood up and walked over, plopping herself down on the bed next to Amy's propped up feet. Amy looked at her and giggled. "What are you doing here?" Amy dropped her feet back to the floor and leaned forward, capturing Lucy's lips in a chaste kiss. "Mind reader." Amy looked at Lucy in confusion. "A kiss. That's what I came for." Amy lightly blushed. She stood up, walked around her bed and flopped down on it. Lucy turned slightly to look at Amy, and climbed on the bed next to her.

Lucy turned on her side and wrapped an arm around the blonde's waist. "So…how's studying going?" Amy smiled. "Ugh. I'm almost annoyed I came back. Just in time to study for finals." Amy turned her head towards Lucy. "You know what's crazy though? Three quarters of my tests are about you." Lucy just stared into clear blue eyes. "Seriously?" Amy nodded. "Yeah. My _Capes and Capers _class is the one I'm writing that thesis for. _Gender Bias and the Criminal Mastermind _and _Advanced Techniques in Cat Burglary_. I'm probably lucky that you are here right now." The brunette snorted laughter and Amy quickly covered her mouth with her hand. "Ssssh!" She glanced over at the door and back to Lucy. She removed her hand and replaced it with her lips. She pulled back and laid her head on Lucy's shoulder. "I am so looking forward to school being over." Amy felt Lucy nod. "Soooo, I know a bit about the Debs, and I know you ladies have your big prom thing…" Amy nodded. "Endgame." "Right." Lucy paused and sat up, pulling Amy up with her. "So, I was wondering…would you like to go to prom with me?" Lucy grinned her thousand watt grin and waited for Amy's answer. Amy smiled back but quirked a curious eyebrow at Lucy. "While that certainly is the best offer I've received so far, just how would we pull that off?" Lucy clapped her hands together. "Leave that to me!"

"Amy! AMY!" Max yelled up the stairs. She paused, listening for a response. Max hung her head and sighed. "Maybe I've lost my touch." She stomped up the stairs, counted to three, and tried again. "AMY!" She paused again. This time she heard a thud and mumbling. "Maybe I haven't lost my touch." _That was the sweet sound of someone falling out of bed._ Max chuckled as she finished her journey up the stairs and she threw open Amy's door. Amy stood with a hand on her hip, glowering at Max. "What do you want, Max?" Amy's hair was disheveled, as was her clothing. "Since when do you take naps?" Amy snickered. "I was studying…I just, ah, fell asleep. So, again, what do you want?" Max looked down at the paper in her hand, and back up at Amy. "We got this today." She handed it to the blond. "Congratulations, you are the Deb of the Year!" It began as a small snicker, grew into a giggle and then a full on laughing fit. Max's congratulatory smile faltered a bit and she stared at Amy, completely puzzled. "What is so funny about this?" Amy, laughing bent over with her hands on her knees looked up at Max and collapsed on her bed in a fresh bout of giggles. Max was now looking at her like she was crazy. She shrugged and walked out of the room, leaving the letter behind on Amy's desk.

Amy managed to slow her laughing down to a few giggles. She stood up and closed her bedroom door. "She's gone now." Lucy popped her head up from the far side of Amy's bed.

"Is she always that loud? I banged my funny bone when I fell off of your bed." She stood, rubbing her elbow. She turned her attention to Amy. "So, Deb of the Year, huh?" Amy started laughing again. "I fought Lucy Diamond and lived! Ha! Well, I guess I _have_ to go to Endgame now." Amy took Lucy's hand. "Lucy, I would love to go to Endgame with you. I still don't know how you are going to pull that off though." "Leave that to me, baby." Lucy took out her cell and texted Scud two words. IT'S ON!


	27. Chapter 27

**A/N: so i had a whole author's note typed out, and then i accidentally hit the back button and it disappeared. er, so i wanted to say...thanks for reading, and i'm sorry i went so long without an update. the longest i've ever gone actually. i just had a case of writer's block plain and simple. i hated it, deleted it, wrote some more, deleted some more, and ended up here, with a short chapter. but it's something, and i'm looking forward to putting this chapter behind me and moving on!**

**i also wanted to thank everyone who has reviewed/encouraged me to continue. no worries about the continuing, this story will most definitely get finished! oh! and so i don't forget, if you guys all really like debs, please head over to .com and come hang out with us on the message board. we are still alive and kicking over there!**

**thanks!**

**kirax29**

Max sat on the couch and yawned, leaning forward to grab her coffee mug from the table. Dominique sat beside her, staring blankly at the television. Dom took a drag of her cigarette and brought her cup of black coffee to her lips exhaling a cloud of smoke before drinking deeply. The Debs newsletter was sitting in Max's lap, open to an article about Endgame and Amy being named Deb of the Year. She turned her head to Dominique. "So who are you taking to Endgame? I mean, I know you have all these hookups, but I wasn't sure if you like…did uh…social things with them." Dominique looked pensive for a moment, and Max thought she caught a glimpse of a small smile that wasn't quite able to fully form on the French woman's lips. She seemed to catch herself and took another drag. "Never with them. But, ah, I do have a date." Max's eyebrows drew together, and one slowly rose as she tilted her head and studied Dom. "I don't think I have ever heard you say you have a 'date' before." Dominique shook her head and smirked.

Janet read the email for the fifth time, still not believing it. She forced her jaw closed and began reading one more time.

_Hey J,_

_I would like to formally ask you to accompany me to your Deb Prom…er…Endgame. I know, I know, you are probably wondering to yourself, "Why would such a handsome man want to go with me to prom?" No really, I'm just kidding. So LD has this crazy need to be all romantic and stupid and entirely too visible and go to your Deb shindig. Obviously I won't let her go alone. So, I'm thinking you probably have a date already. If you do, I'm hoping you will dump his ass and go with me instead. If you don't, well, I'm your man. We will be incognito, so no worries there._

_-S-_

"Well it definitely says what I think it says." Janet hit reply, but was unsure of exactly how to reply. She needed to talk to Amy and find out if this was some kind of joke. Janet closed her laptop, and bounced off of her bed, straightening her sweater before walking out of the room. She walked to the end of the hallway and knocked on Amy's door. Upon hearing a muffled, "Come in!" she turned the knob and swung the door open. Janet leaned on the door frame. "What are you doing?" Amy waved an arm at the books and papers all over her bed. "Studying. What's up?" Janet walked into Amy's room, shutting the door behind her. She turned her head to look at Amy, ponytail swinging around her head. "I got the strangest email from Scud. He asked me to…" Amy fell to her side on the bed and began laughing. "Did he…ask you…to Endgame?" Amy managed to stammer out the question between bouts of giggles. Janet sat on the edge of Amy's bed and smiled, squealing with delight. "Are they really coming to Endgame with us?" Amy grinned and nodded. "Not that I know how they are going to pull it off. Lucy said to be ready to go and they will pick us up."

Scud looked through his closet for the hundredth time. "Luce, I have no idea what you think we can get away with, but I'm not so sure partying with a bunch of Debs is one of those things." Lucy glared at him. "Of course it is, we just have to have the right plan and equipment to carry out said plan." Scud sighed. "But that's usually where I come in. I really don't have an inkling of how we are gonna do this." The jewel-thief motioned toward the closet. "Scud, I think we will know it when we see it." Scud crossed his arms and studied the hangers. He turned toward his desk and grabbed his glasses, sliding the frames onto his face. Lucy glanced at him and froze. "Uh, what, Luce?" "Ha! Now we are getting somewhere!" Scud just stared at her, completely puzzled. "Glasses! That's step one! Oh, and maybe fake mustaches!" Scud burst out laughing. "You are going to look completely ridiculous with a mustache." "But Scud, everyone thinks Amy is straight. I'm totally going to this thing as a dude. When I said we needed the right equipment…ha!" Scud covered his face with his hands. _Seriously?_


End file.
